


light-borne

by Lamuerte



Series: light-borne [1]
Category: Destiny (Video Games), EXO (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Byun Baekhyun-centric, CW: Seungri, F/M, IN SPACE!, M/M, Mentions of Cancer, Mentions of Suicide, Minor Character Deaths, OT12 (EXO), Science Fiction, Slow Burn, The Red War (Destiny), does that count as slow burn?, everyone is a guardian but Baekhyun, no beta we die like men, starts with stage names then will switch don't worry it peeves me out too, this will be a long journey, you don't need to know anything about Destiny to read this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2020-07-19 13:47:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 263,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19975072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lamuerte/pseuds/Lamuerte
Summary: Baekhyun is a scavenger from the Last City, surrounded by immortal Guardians he admires more than he'd like anyone knowing. Whatever. He has his own thing going on, anyway.Then the Red War happens.





	1. then came the hurricane

**Author's Note:**

> I will try to make this as friendly as possible, in terms of lore, to anyone who doesn't know anything about Destiny. A few basic things to get out of the way: the Traveller is an alien, mysterious entity that blessed Humanity with Light, allowing us to expand through the Solar System until it all went to shit. Guardians surfaced then, warriors reborn by Ghosts (little sentient robots) who are almost completely immortal as long as they have their Ghosts and the Light. They also have cool powers around three things: Arc, Void, and Solar. Also, they have subtypes according to their strengths: Titan, Warlock, and Hunter. Any of these combinations is possible.
> 
> Edit: Fallen, Taken, Vex, Hive, and Cabal are the different alien enemies. Fallen are basically the most prominent ones, because they have kinda taken over Earth. Vex are robots with a hivemind. Hive are like very eldritch creatures. Cabal are Spartan huge soldiers, very Roman-inspired too. Taken are ALL OF THESE, but under the influence of a terrible god who converts them into transdimensional monsters.
> 
> I expect this to be long. We shall be going through the whole Red War, but EXO style, so it's gonna have the same basic outcome but it won't be a play-by-play of the game either.

**i. then came the hurricane**

Hours before, Baekhyun had been in Old America.

The place in question had once been known as Fabulous Las Vegas. At least, that’s what the grand sign –covered in dust and grime, bleached by the sun, and still somewhat colourful— proclaimed, welcoming him warmly.

He guessed it was a bit fabulous— or at least, it had been. It was picturesque and flashy, even if it was in ruins. Some of the buildings, he had been told, were supposed to resemble old monuments of Humanity. People had come here once to gamble and celebrate in luxury, see the whole world gathered in one single place, and pretend to be on top of it all for once in their lives.

Baekhyun could see the appeal in that. He liked gambling. Perhaps a little bit too much. The Ace of Spades that decorated the hand cannon strapped to his hip was a testament to that.

“There’s the pyramid,” He announced through his radio to the two other ships tailing his own. “Right by the… Sphinx. Huh.” 

“ _Yeah,_ ” D.O, the quiet, intense, and surprisingly small Titan he had officially met only yesterday replied, voice crackling with some static. Baekhyun’s Häkke Vimana needed a refurbishing. “ _It’s in much better condition than the one in Old Africa_.”

“ _To be fair to the original, that one was there for millennia even before the Golden Age_.” Chen, the kind, playful Warlock, chimed in. “ _It’s only expected for it to be a little worse for wear_.”

“You gotta give it to ancient humans,” Baekhyun commented. “They knew how to build things to last.”

“ _Well, actually,_ ” Chen began. “ _Even other humans were astounded by it. Some people thought that aliens had come down and built it themselves, or at least helped._ ”

“You know what? I totally see it. This pyramid has a big Vex energy to it.” The grey-haired man quipped, and it made Chen laugh. That, in turn, made Baekhyun smile.

It wasn’t often that he had any sort of company in missions, let alone Guardians. He was pretty damn capable as a private scavenger, after all. The Vanguard preferred the term _collector_ , but Baekhyun thought his word fit his work much better. Besides, it was rare for the Vanguard to employ him at all, so Baekhyun thought he was allowed to call himself whatever he wanted.

It was a special occasion though. This time, Commander Sooman-52 had ordered him to retrieve bodies –like an animal feeding on carrion, see, scavenger was a _great_ word for him— and engrams, and bring these two Guardians with him. Not only that, he had told Baekhyun that _he_ was in charge. 

Chen and D.O had clearly been forced into being of assistance to Baekhyun. Neither of them were rookies, after all— that much Baekhyun knew. Only a couple of years ago, the streets of the Last City had been filled with gossip about them, reborn just in time to be part of the Taken War and see their fair amount of action in it. They had been regarded as heroes, among the usual Guardians and some other fresh recruits.

It had made them just a smidge too cocky. An incident in the Prison of Elders during a riot –somehow, they had managed to be cryo-frozen by the inmates, which was hilarious to Baekhyun and a grave mistake to Sooman— had been all it took for the Commander to teach them a lesson in humility in the form of Baekhyun Byun. 

Baekhyun was perfect for it, Sooman-52 had suggested. Not having infinitive lives to burn through like Guardians did when the whole planet was teeming with Fallen who ate humans like him for breakfast had made the man careful. Strategic. Methodical. What have you. His dad would’ve been proud and whatnot.

And although both Guardians had been civil with him during their meeting, and had maintained conversation throughout most of their trip, Baekhyun wasn’t dumb. He recognised contempt, even when hidden.

It was a shame, really. They could’ve been friends.

“Okay, so, debrief,” Baekhyun spoke up more awkwardly, unaccustomed to the position of being the leader to anyone other than himself. “Last time a fireteam tried to storm this place, they all died.”

“ _Reassuring_.” D.O commented dryly, and Baekhyun had to keep himself from snorting.

“Yeah, well, they had no idea what they were heading into.” Baekhyun replied. “They were expecting Fallen at most— not a Taken colony.” 

“ _A Taken colony made it all the way to Old America_?” Chen whistled. “ _You have to admire that kind of survival skills. How did they even get here?”_

“Yeah, we’re not here to figure that conundrum out,” The scavenger answered as deadpan as possible. “In fact, if we can steer clear of them altogether, that’d be great. I’d rather make it back to the City for dinner and _not_ be Taken.”

“ _The Taken can’t Take, Byun,_ ” D.O stated, with the condescension Baekhyun was used to get from Guardians. He rolled his eyes freely, because neither the Titan nor the Warlock could see him in his own ship from their crafts. “ _Only Oryx could do that, and, well. We got rid of him. Now the ones that are left just wander aimlessly._ ”

Baekhyun turned on the auto-pilot on the Häkke Vimana and unbuckled himself from his seat. He grabbed his helmet and put it over his head with one swift move. “Really! Well. I’ll bet you the best engram we find that _at least one_ person has been Taken, then.”

“ _There are so many things wrong with that_ ,” Chen interjected, not sounding particularly scandalised. “ _Let me enumerate them. One, it’s morbid as fuck. Two, you seriously wanna take an engram we’re supposed to retrieve without any permission? Three, the implications that Taken are Taking anyone are really terrifying and awful news. Four, **it’s morbid as fuck**_.” 

“Morbid humour is necessary in the face of death, Chen,” Baekhyun defended himself lightly, looking around the Vimana for a good auto rifle he just knew he had lying around somewhere. He needed to clean up. “Plus, there’s nothing wrong with skimming a little off the top, when no one knows how many engrams are there anyway. The people who knew are dead _or Taken_.” 

“ _I have an issue with how Taken Taking is only on the third spot of your problems with this bet_ ,” D.O said. There was a pause. “ _You’re on, Byun_.”

Chen laughed, amused but also nervous. Baekhyun cheered.

“Great! I love a challenge!” The scavenger proclaimed, as he finally located and grabbed a Jiangshi AR1— not his best rifle, but it would do the job. 

“ _What’s the plan, then_?” D.O changed the subject. “ _You weren’t exactly forthcoming with information yesterday_.”

“That’s right, I wasn’t.” Baekhyun agreed, seizing his gauntlets and gloves from over the dashboard to put them on. He struggled, doing it with one hand at a time. “Mostly because I didn’t have any, ha. I spent the night trying to pinpoint Burning Sun’s positions remotely, trying to match it with what I knew Seungri and his men had planned.”

He had been there when Seungri had received the tip of a Fallen stash of engrams in Las Vegas. Had watched Junyoung and Jonghoon decrypt a sample, their eyes light up like the glimmer they would receive for the retrieval of the whole stash. Had declined to join them— it was his nephew’s birthday party, which he had to travel in the opposite direction for, and Burning Sun had eight perfectly capable warriors in its ranks. He had bought them drinks to pre-emptively celebrate what was sure to be a good haul. Half-listened to their arrangements and then went home.

Baekhyun just hadn’t expected for it to go so wrong. Four of those in Seungri’s fireteam, including Seungri, were Guardians after all. Sleazy, greedy Guardians who had distanced themselves from the Tower— but Guardians, nonetheless.

“ _And what did you find_?” D.O pressed, dragging Baekhyun away from his thoughts.

“Right,” He said, and cleared his throat. “Since it’s a pyramid, it just goes up and it’s open space. They could tell things were weird right away, because there weren’t any actual Fallen around, but they didn’t encounter any Taken until they made up their way to the seventh floor, it seems. That’s where their distress call places them, too. Did you listen to it?”

“ _Yes_.” Chen’s voice was solemn and reflective. “ _They said the first floors were clear of anything_.”

“Yeah, so we’ll just work our way up as well, but through the maintenance stairs as to avoid open space. Their neurites readings tell us that the Taken Colony is concentrated from the seventh to ninth floor, right? Let’s try to neutralise them as much as we possibly can but try to avoid contact. Find the bodies, transmat them right away into your ships— we’ll just freeze them in here, it’s safer that way. And then, we’ll go get the engrams, which were supposed to be stashed at the twelfth floor.”

Baekhyun took a deep breath and waited for their responses. 

“ _Got it_.” D.O answered.

“ _Let’s go down_.” Chen added.

“Okay, Guardians,” Baekhyun commanded the Häkke Vimana to the ground. “Let’s rumble, then.”

“ _Do you think the elevator is working_?” Chen wondered. “ _I’m not looking forward to going up seven flights of stairs_.”

Baekhyun didn’t bother to answer, as the Häkke Vimana landed in front of the sphinx’s massive paws. As he left the ship, D.O and Chen just transmatted into the ground, their respective Classical Nova and Arrowhawk flying away and cloaking themselves. Baekhyun’s eyebrows shot up, much to his chagrin. He had to do the cloaking manually. The Vimana was a bit of a piece of shit.

He took a good look at the Warlock and the Titan. All clad in their shiny armour, Baekhyun was a bit ashamed to be able to recognise their sets— Chen wore the orange and blue of the Vanguard, the helmet making him resemble an Exo, even if Baekhyun knew he was a human underneath. D.O, on the other hand, was all metal in Crucible armour, a mark of Wing Discipline to signal his many accomplishments in the activities lead by Lord Donghae. He probably had a lot of anger issues.

It made Baekhyun, in his mismatched sets meant for a Hunter, collected and salvaged from wherever he could find, and covered by his big, dirty red and lilac poncho, feel a bit inadequate. He stretched the poncho’s hood over his head.

He had been wearing almost the same thing back in the Tower when Commander Sooman-52 had summoned them. So had they. Somehow, though, in the face of action, they looked way better. He was glad they couldn’t see him blush behind the lens of his helmet. 

Baekhyun cleared his throat, speaking to them directly after hours of radio talk. “The elevator is totally working. I’m just worried we’ll step out of it into an ambush, just like Seungri did.”

“That’s a good point. A little climb never killed anybody, anyway.” D.O commented, his voice softer in person. Chen groaned, his own voice louder.

“I don’t know, buddy. It might kill me.” The Warlock joked back.

“Let’s get this over with, shall we?” Baekhyun proposed, making sure his Jiangshi rifle was loaded. “The body count is eight. Then the engrams. Don’t forget our bet, D.O!”

“I could never.” D.O deadpanned, and with that, they made their way inside the black pyramid. 

It had been a hotel and casino, once, and a lavish one at that. After the Collapse, though, people probably saw no point on taking grand vacations. People _now_ hardly did— there was nowhere to go.

During the Dark Age, Baekbeom had told him the night before, the Luxor had become a small refugees’ community, game tables and machines making way for living spaces instead. The Fallen had invaded it at some point during that and the massive migrations to the Last City, and it had been a major centre for Eliksni operations and a point of interest for the Vanguard up until very recently. The crumbling of Fallen Houses had meant it had been partly abandoned, as Fallen regrouped in areas not as harsh as a desert, even if it made a very pretty base. Big Vex energy, Baekhyun would keep saying it. It was the perfect time to strike it for loot.

As the three of them walked in between the arms of the sphinx, the screaming and groaning coming from inside became more and more obvious. Chen and D.O shared a look behind Baekhyun.

“Okay, so,” The scavenger spoke up, “Intel has drastically changed in the last couple metres.”

Chen snickered, unable to help himself. Even D.O sounded like he was smirking. “So it would seem.”

Somewhere between scouts reporting the situation, Seungri getting his hands on the information, and the travelling of his fireteam, the Taken had arrived and killed or absorbed the Fallen left into their ranks. Somewhere between the Vanguard receiving Burning Sun’s distress call, enlisting Baekhyun, a night of strategizing, and a morning of travelling, the colony had been clearly active.

“Damn, they move fast,” He muttered, half to himself. D.O nodded and moved to unlatch a ridiculously big submachine gun from his back.

“Yeah, they do that,” The Titan replied as if it wasn’t even that interesting. “They wiped out the entire Awoken forces in, what? Probably five hours.”

“They had that big death impulse weapon, to be fair. And they also obliterated themselves in the process,” Chen retorted boredly, unseething a ridiculously long sword as well. Baekhyun now just felt silly with just a Jiangshi rifle and his hand cannon but said nothing. Baekbeom always berated him for going into situations underprepared. 

He was worried. But where Baekhyun was wary, D.O and Chen moved forward without faltering. Within seconds, they had surpassed Baekhyun, and were standing by the big metal doors of the hotel, which had been clearly replaced many times.

“What’s the new plan, Byun?” Chen asked, not mockingly even if Baekhyun felt a bit defensive. If Sooman-52 had sent these two along so they would be less cocky, he could tell already it wouldn’t work very well.

“Just shoot,” Baekhyun answered, and he never thought he wouldn’t be happy about having to shoot relentlessly at anything. “Shoot until there’s nothing left, I guess.”

“That’s the spirit.” D.O said. And he pulled the door open with his free hand, groaning.

Inside, things were a mess. The combination of Fallen machines, torn banners, half-built pikes, and ether vaults with dismantled game machines, couches that had to be centuries old, transdimensional puddles of dark matter, and levitating debris was a sight to see. 

Oh, and it was full of Taken Fallen. Woohoo.

It’s not that Baekhyun had never seen any before— he had written extensively on Taken, actually. It’s just that they terrified him. How they were all shadow yet at the same time eerily bright, and constantly twitching, and so calm as they came to kill them, was unnerving to Baekhyun. 

D.O and Chen had no such qualms, probably due to their extended exposure to the creatures. Neither gave a second to the Taken to react with more than a little shrieking before D.O was firing relentless bullets at whatever came his way, while Chen slashed at any former Dreg or Vandal that somehow escaped the Titan’s wrath. 

“Remember to find the bodies!” Baekhyun yelled, as he too fired, but making his way through the much more vacant side, letting the Guardians take –ha— most of the heat. Looking up, he could see that the upper floors looked empty, which was a relief. The colony couldn’t grow without anything to Take, after all, so maybe they just had moved. 

“Pepper, follow Byun! Scan the area for our men!” Chen ordered to nothing, and suddenly, a Ghost was indeed following Baekhyun. He jumped, and nearly got shot by a Taken Vandal, twitching and hiding behind a vault. Baekhyun shot back, and the creature swirled into whatever dimension it came from.

“Already on it.” Pepper, the Ghost said, unfazed. “Cover for me, Byun.”

“Where the fuck did you even come from?” He questioned her, but did as told. He was doing a little scan of his own, after all. It wasn’t anything fancy, just his own eyes, compared to whatever the little light could do, and yet he spotted a body before she did anyway. “Oh, found one!”

Quickly exchanging the Jiangshi for his preferred hand cannon, he rushed towards the slumped human figure and gunned down the Taken that came into his view. Chen, he saw, had also spiced it up a bit, throwing a grenade into a cluster of aliens that turned into a small electric storm. Baekhyun whistled in appreciation.

What? Guardians _were_ cool.

In only a moment, he was by the corpse. He didn’t know this one, but identification could come later. A rapid work of his hands produced a transmat device from under his poncho, and Baekhyun pressed it down on the man’s chest. A few buttons on his gauntlet, and Baekhyun kept moving. It would transmat on its own into the Häkke Vimana in some seconds.

“One of eight!” He announced, his voice coming through their communicators rather than through the lobby.

“I regret to inform you the closest body is all the way on the seventh floor.” Pepper had dutifully stuck close to Baekhyun, who jumped again and nearly shot her.

“Stop doing that! Fuck!” He cursed. “I guess I’m taking the elevator then.” 

“ _Hey_!” Chen protested in his ear. “ _You said we shouldn’t_!”

“I changed my mind!” Baekhyun retorted, sprinting towards the small doorways he knew lead to the maintenance elevator in the hidden bowels of the old hotel. “Behave while I’m gone, children!”

The peace in the new section, compared to the lobby, was jarring. Baekhyun didn’t stop moving, leaving space so Pepper could come through after him. The door shutting behind them seemed to shut out all the ruckus as well. The scavenger exhaled deeply.

“Nervous?” The Ghost asked, sounding not unlike her Guardian— not mocking, somewhat kind, yet without any actual warmth. Baekhyun chuckled, surveying the surrounding area for the elevator. He didn’t really answer her. 

Once he found the elevator, Baekhyun pressed the button to call it down and waited, listening in on the gunshots and screeching and utter chaos that the Guardians and Taken seemed to be causing.

“ _There’s a lot of Taken._ ” D.O informed suddenly, short of breath.

“ _Way more than there should be,_ ” Chen added, sounding tense. “ _It’s like they don’t stop coming, but at least they’re all—_ ” There was a powerful pound, a pained scream and then, sudden static. Pepper jumped in the air, and Baekhyun winced. 

“ _Shit,_ ” D.O swore. “ _Chen just got pounded by a huge Taken Knight_. _It came out of nowhere._ ”

“Go revive your Guardian?” Baekhyun suggested to Pepper, who blinked at him.

“Ink can do it,” She said simply.

“ _That’s right, he’s fresh enough for me._ ” An unfamiliar male voice replied. That was a creepy way of getting introduced as Ink, D.O’s Ghost. “ _We’ll go as soon as we can get close_.”

“D.O,” Baekhyun began, “If you’re outnumbered—”

“— _Just why are there so many of these things_?” D.O carried on as if Baekhyun hadn’t spoken at all. The elevator made a ‘ping’ sound, signalling its arrival. Baekhyun stepped into it and pushed the button for the seventh story. “ _Chen was right. How did they even make their way to this place to begin with? Something isn’t adding up_.” 

“My end of the bet is looking somehow better and worse at the same time,” He chimed as the doors closed.

“ _Whatever,_ ” D.O dismissed. “ _Let me just_ —”

There was a powerful war cry coming from the Titan, followed by an intense smash which reverberated throughout the whole pyramid. The lights in the elevator flickered, and for a second, Baekhyun feared it would stop. He couldn’t help but to grin a little, though, as he pictured D.O slamming the ground with his fists and the force of a maelstrom. He did look like a Striker.

There was a groan, this time from a freshly revived Chen.

“ _Way to wake up the dead._ ” The Warlock quipped with equal measures of mirth and pain. “ _With an earthquake_.”

Baekhyun chuckled.

“At least they’re having fun, right?” He made conversation with Pepper. She nodded with her whole tiny round body but added no more. Baekhyun just shrugged to himself and cocked his hand cannon so it would open, and he could load it with bullets. They were slowly reaching the fifth floor, the ancient lift taking its time dragging them up. 

“Wouldn’t it be easier to use your rifle?” She wondered. “It’s kind of hard to hit multiple targets with that, right? And it takes a while to load.”

“Yes and no,” He replied. “I like more precise strikes, actually, and we’d be too short range to use a sniper— which I left in the ship, anyway. Plus, this little thing has a neat trick.”

Pepper observed the cannon. Her eye lingered on the Ace of Spades. She then looked up at Baekhyun, silent.

“I’ll show you.” He promised. The elevator pinged once more, as they reached their floor of destination. The doors opened, just as there was another explosion coming from downstairs. There was a small pack of Taken Thralls by the hall, twitching and shivering in a horrifying manner. Before any of them could make their way close to them, though, Baekhyun fired at the head of the nearest one. It exploded in a burst of Solar energy, and it burnt the other monsters with it as well.

Not a single one was left, and Baekhyun grinned at Pepper, excited and expectant. She did look impressed— or as impressed as a Ghost with only an eye for all expression could look. 

“That was like a miniature Golden Gun.” She critiqued. Baekhyun nodded excitedly.

“I’m a big fan of Shin Malphur. Who isn’t, right?” He snorted at his own joke. “Anyway, where’s the next body?”

“There’s five on this floor alone.” Pepper told him, as she took the lead, and Baekhyun followed her floating form with his gun ready. “That would leave us with two bodies to search for.”

They left the maintenance halls into the open space of the hotel rooms, and the roaring of battle had subsided quite a bit. D.O and Chen were very effective killers, it seemed, and Baekhyun peeked down. His eyes widened at what he saw.

“Holy shit that Knight really _is_ huge!” He exclaimed. It also moved very slowly, and it had an enormous axe with it. The Guardians, it seemed, had been resorting from running away from it and focusing instead on smaller Taken Fallen. 

“ _It’s kind of unkillable, too_!” Chen replied, sounding frustrated yet in awe at the same time. “ _I didn’t think there were champions like this left_! _Not even our Supers scratch it_.” 

“You have any word on its identity?” Pepper asked. Ink answered for the Titan and Warlock:

“ _The Abyssal Champion_ ,” The other Ghost relayed to them. “ _A Darkblade just like Alak-Hul, no other known names.”_

 _“I remember Alak-Hul_!” Chen said with too much enthusiasm, Baekhyun watching the Knight as if entranced by it. Pepper nudged his arm to remind him of their mission. “ _You know who thought I’d be a good help with that strike? Xiumin himself.”_

He sounded awfully smug. Baekhyun smirked— he knew Xiumin. Everyone did.

“Pretty big honour, if you ask me!” Baekhyun humoured the Warlock, shooting a couple stray Taken as he walked with Pepper towards the body of the man he only had known as Kim once. Just like he had thought, the colony had migrated down rather than grow. It was a relief.

“ _Please don’t say that to him, Byun,_ ” D.O pleaded, as if tired. “ _He only went because he was the only one available. Guardian Suho was there, too. Chen barely got a_ —” A very undignified scream from the Titan interrupted his words, and Baekhyun looked down to see he had been nearly reached by the Darkblade. Its grunts reverberated up. Chen laughed openly.

“ _Serves you right, for talking shit about me!_ ”

“ _Shut the fuck up, it got you first_!”

Baekhyun couldn’t help but to laugh, the transmat device already working on the corpse. He wondered how much he would have to hose down the Häkke Vimana at this rate, so the stench of death wouldn’t stick.

“Next corpse, Pepper, please.”

The next four bodies were found in a similar fashion, Baekhyun encountering hardly any problems as D.O and Chen distracted the Abyssal Champion as best as they could. Once he found Jonghoon, his dead Ghost lying next to him, Baekhyun took a moment to reflect. 

They weren’t his friends, exactly. Co-workers, at best, in the loosest sense of the word. But it still bothered him to see how easily they had fallen, even with the protection of Light by their side.

He pocketed the dead Ghost, when he thought Pepper wasn’t watching him. There were good buyers out there for this, at least. 

“Okay, where’s the next one, Pepper?” He prompted, and the Ghost moved from side to side, as if shaking her head. 

“Something is strange… I can only find one more human corpse. I can’t find seem to be able to find the remaining one.”

Baekhyun nodded. “We’re missing Junyoung and Seungri. That’s fine. Riddle me this though, and now I’m serious— is that Abyssal Champion capable of Taking?” 

“ _It wouldn’t seem to have the ability, no._ ” Ink responded.

“ _Then they gotta be around here somewhere._ ” D.O added, sounding actually a bit exhausted. Baekhyun checked his watch, and they had to have been fighting this Darkblade for almost fifteen minutes. It didn’t look like they had even made a dent on its chitin. “ _Just keep looking._ ”

“ _I’m really tired of this shit._ ” Chen announced. Baekhyun chuckled, as Jonghoon’s body transmatted away. 

“Let’s do something different.” He suggested. “Just drop a grenade or something on that thing. Something that lets you get away. Go up to the twelfth floor and we’ll meet there. Find the engrams for me, I’ve been doing all the heavy lifting today.”

Both Guardians scoffed, though Chen more like squawked. “ _I would trade places with you in seconds, if it didn’t mean you’d be totally dead, Byun_.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Baekhyun waved him off, even if only Pepper could see him. “Let’s go.”

Pepper lead him two floors up. The Titan and Warlock, both Arc users, had decided to combine their Supers into one Ultra Super Power, whatever that meant. It was their pièce de résistance. Baekhyun focused on his own task, an unpleasant feeling of dread settling in his stomach.

Hidden in one of the rooms, a place that had remained relatively untouched as a bedroom in all the time it had spent abandoned, laid the body of Junyoung, bloody and slashed. He wore a terrified last expression. His Ghost was cradled in his hands, also dead. It had the hole of a bullet right in its centre. 

“That wasn’t a Fallen or a Taken.” Baekhyun whispered to Pepper, who seemed shaken. She turned away from the sight. Baekhyun didn’t have that luxury, sadly. He placed the penultimate transmat device on what was left of Junyoung’s chest plate and removed the Ghost shell from his rigid hands. His poncho at least had a lot of room. 

The corpse was transmatted away, and only then Pepper turned around. Baekhyun, feeling bold and at ease despite the nagging feeling that something was off, removed his own helmet, and offered her a small smile.

“We’re almost done,” He consoled her. She did not seem consoled in the least. “Any sign of Seungri?”

“I’m trying a different approach,” She said. “I’m no longer looking for corpses, but for human lives.”

“And?”

“He’s not showing up that way, either.”

Baekhyun huffed. Trust Seungri to make this harder than it needed to be. “Seungri didn’t even have a Ghost. You could at least look for that.”

“Really?” She said, surprisingly interested. “What happened to them?”

“I think they were called Victory,” Baekhyun ruffled his own grey hair, which had a strong case of helmet head, staring into a corner of the room. “Seungri and Victory wanted to raid the Vault of Glass in Venus. Really awful idea. They didn’t even make it through the front door before a Hobgoblin got it, of course. They’re pretty good snipers.” 

There was a pause. “Anyway. That’s why Seungri did shit like this. He still had the Light— and nothing ever seemed to catch up to him.”

“Why would Guardians with Ghosts follow one that lost his own so recklessly?” Pepper questioned, scandalised. Baekhyun shrugged.

“I have no idea how Guardians’ brains work most of the time. He promised them something better than what the Vanguard had to offer, I suppose.”

“What could that possibly be?” Pepper pressed.

“I don’t know. What’s better than blindingly follow a dead unknown lifeform floating in the sky?” Baekhyun pushed back, perhaps a bit more harshly than he intended. He deflated immediately. “I’m sorry. I know you guys respect… It. The Traveller.”

Pepper still looked offended. “The Traveller birthed us all.”

“Not me, it didn’t.” Baekhyun blurted out, and then made a face at her to show he was sorry. He really wasn’t. The whole pyramid then shook once more, more powerfully than before, with the combined power of Chen and D.O. “Anyway, wanna go?”

Pepper silently followed, most likely ruminating on what he had shared on Seungri. Stray Guardians like him were a dime a dozen, Baekhyun knew— but she had only had her Guardian for three years at most. He figured it would be shocking to learn what their kind was capable of. He had horror stories to counter every single fantastic heroic tale Baekbeom had ever told him, though. 

They called the elevator, and when it stopped, it was already occupied by Chen and D.O, looking a little worse for wear, but alive and unharmed. The Warlock grinned at them, helmet also off. D.O’s own lens had been broken, and only one angry eye was visible. 

“How did that team up go?” He asked affectionately, as Pepper floated to his shoulder, nearly nuzzling it. She grumbled for all answer. Baekhyun scoffed.

“I personally thought we got along pretty well! Damn, Pep, tell me how you really feel.” The scavenger muttered.

“Don’t call me that. And don’t think I didn’t see you take those Ghosts,” She accused, and he stiffened. “What are you planning to do with them?”

Baekhyun pressed the button for the twelfth floor, and turned to the doors, so he wouldn’t have to look at her. “Did you want me to leave them here instead?”

He was avoiding her question. Nobody really insisted.

The twelfth floor was devoid of life of any sort, transdimensional or not. They could hear the Abyssal Champion downstairs, but none of them dared to look. Baekhyun doubted it could even make its way up here, anyway, with how heavy it looked. If it couldn’t Take, it meant whatever could had dropped the Darkblade off and left.

“Let’s change things a bit,” D.O proposed. “Ink, why don’t you scan for whoever’s missing? Pepper has done a lot of searching. She must be tired.” 

“That’s so considerate of you, thank you.” She replied happily. Baekhyun grumbled. He had searched too, and he would continue to search now.

“If I were a Fallen Captain, where would I stick all my precious engrams?” Chen wondered out loud.

“In my room, with all my treasures.” D.O answered immediately.

“Then let’s split and look,” Baekhyun suggested. “I think you really did eliminate the whole colony— save for the _Abyssal Champion_. But really, with a name like that, there was no way you were winning.” 

“We defeated Oryx, _The Taken King_.” Chen defended them with a frown. “He was literally the founder of the Hive. Much scarier name.”

“But I bet it wasn’t _just_ the two of you. Plus, didn’t it start because one of you killed the wrong Hive Prince?” Baekhyun retorted easily, putting on his helmet again. There were many rooms to search. The Guardians and their Ghosts followed.

“That was Chanyeol,” D.O accused nonchalantly. “We don’t fuck with the Moon.”

“Who the fuck is Chanyeol?” He had a vague idea of who Chanyeol was. He had cut out the Black Heart from the Black Garden in a very confusing story he had once heard at a bar. Also, he had killed Crota and plunged their civilisation into war. 

Neither Titan nor Warlock bothered to answer him. They had already begun checking rooms on the opposite direction of Baekhyun.

The room was easy to find, in the end. It was the fifth door Baekhyun went through, and the pile of engrams was ridiculously big. Almost everything was violet and golden, and he grinned.

“Yo, Guardians!” He called out through their comms. “I found the jackpot!”

They weren’t far. He could hear them come around. He took a seat on the bed in the room and sighed. He still had to find Seungri, after all. Was there a chance he had escaped with his life? It wouldn’t have been the first time he weaselled out of certain death.

An eerie, blue and white glow slowly enveloped the room. Baekhyun swore his vision became blurry, and the strange whistling that he had come to associate with Taken portals was all he could hear.

Baekhyun turned his head, almost not wanting to see. There, by the door of what had to be the room’s bathroom, stood Seungri— or what had been Seungri, at least. Now, it was just a twitching shadow of what could’ve been a man, its face hidden by blinding light.

“Oh, Seungri.” Baekhyun whispered, almost pitiful. 

He had always been quicker to the draw than Seungri. It was only natural he’d beat him now, when there was some sort of transdimensional lag between them.

Just as D.O and Chen walked into the room from behind Baekhyun, Baekhyun shot the light— the supposed head. Seungri’s Taken body exploded with the Solar impact of the bullet, not even getting the relief of travelling to whatever realm and creature that had offered him a way to overcome his weaknesses.

Hours before, Baekhyun had been in Old America.

He was half-asleep and dejected despite the mission well accomplished when he stumbled into his apartment, a good payment in his account, and a new shiny and adorably murderous rocket launcher as his prize for a bet well made.

Baekhyun had always liked gambling a little too much. He was good at it, too. 

It was starting to rain outside, lightly, albeit he could hear thunder rumbling ominously in the distance. It was dusk. Chen, D.O, and he had parted ways in the hangar of the Tower, as coroners took over his ship stuffed with cryo-frozen bodies and cryptarchs marvelled over the stash of engrams they had brought along.

Both Guardians had been revelling in the attention, and even if Baekhyun had wanted to say goodbye, maybe invite them to the bar for a few celebratory drinks, he felt suddenly out of place, especially as other Guardians –some which he recognised and others that he didn’t— came closer. 

In the end, he just slipped away quietly. He walked to his apartment unit, only five minutes away from the Tower, under the light water falling on him.

The first thing he did was call Baekbeom, to let him know he had made it back okay and promise to call tomorrow with gossip— or better yet, travel to the farm, so he could tell him in person. 

Then, Baekhyun took a shower, nearly dosing off a few times during it. When he didn’t, he washed his body furiously, as if that would scrub the Darkness he was certain he was surrounded by away from his skin. He hated the Taken. He thought of Seungri and his men. Thought of the story he had told Pepper about the Vault of Glass, and of his own grandparents. 

Once out of it, grey hair still damp, he put on some sleeping clothes— just baggy, ratty things, that he could put on and take off just as easily.

He made himself a sandwich. Recorded an intelligence log as he ate, for Vanguard Jongok. The Taken were Taking, after all— and they were Taking former Guardians. He had never heard of that before. This mission had too many loose ends, and he was certain they hadn’t heard the end of any of it. 

He observed his new rocket launcher— all lilac and pink and baby blue, with the cutest two-tailed fox painted on its side. He fucking loved it. D.O wouldn’t have known what to do with this, while Baekhyun was already attempting to write a theme song for it in his head.

He got into bed and was rendered unconscious within moments of his head hitting the pillow.

It seemed like no time had passed at all when a loud, _loud_ bang ripped Baekhyun from his slumber.

The storm was a full-blown monsoon by now, Baekhyun realised. However, his room was not bathed in the dark shadows of storm clouds, but rather, the red light of fire. There was an alarm going off in his watch, loud and annoying, and he thought he could hear it echo throughout the whole building. Perhaps throughout the whole City.

Baekhyun got out of bed quickly, fearing the worst and not knowing what the worst could even be. There a broadcast coming through his comm, though, from Commander Sooman-52 himself. He could hear it loud and clear and reverberating over and over through the paper-thin walls of the apartment units. 

“ _All civilians to evac points immediately! This is not a drill! The City is under attack! Head to your designated evac points as soon as possible!_ ” Even through the communicator, Baekhyun could hear shooting and explosions in the background. He looked outside his window, and—

Those were Cabal ships. Coming at the Tower. All over the sky.

Baekhyun had never gotten dressed so fast in his life. He grabbed the same pieces of armour he had discarded what he now knew had only been three hours ago, until he was all suited up, and covered himself with the poncho. He grabbed a big duffel bag from under his bed, and collected, as quickly as he could, the best hauls he had lying around. 

The new Two-Tailed Fox, check. The Ace of Spades, check. The Izanagi sniper, check. The best of SUROS Regime, check. The more common weapons he left at the Häkke Vimana would still be there. He didn’t forget to bring all the ammunition he could find.

Perhaps throwing all the food and drinks he had –which wasn’t much— in the same duffel bag was not the best idea, and it resulted on a heavy thing. The five minutes it would take him to get to the Tower, and hopefully not die on the way to the Hangar would be long and excruciating.

Hands shaking, he went through channels trying to find Baekbeom’s. He heard only chaos in every single one, screaming and crying and gunshots and explosions and the metallic sound of Cabal.

“Beom, Beom, Beom! Yeongja! Answer me right now!” He yelled as loud and clear as he could, hoping his brother wasn’t too far from the radio. He knew the elder and his wife had to be close— they had their equipment at the kitchen and it had to be dinner time in the EDZ. Taehyung had very strict feeding times. “This is the biggest emergency ever!”

It took probably fifteen seconds at most for someone to answer him. The longest fifteen seconds of his life. He was shoving random things that he thought would be useful into the duffel bag, which would probably break with the strain and weight if he didn't hurry. 

“ _Baekhyunnie_?” Yeongja’s voice came through, confused. “ _You sound really out of sorts. What’s happening_?”

“Yeongja,” He greeted, as he rushed out the door of his unit and saw how all his neighbours were doing the same thing as he was, terrified and frenzied. “Yeongja, the Cabal are attacking the Last City. I’m not even kidding. We’re being evac’ed as we speak.”

“ _What_?!” His sister-in-law yelled. She called for Baekbeom frantically. In the background, barely audible with all the noise Baekhyun was already immersed in, Taehyung started crying.

The streets were a disaster zone. The Cabal had not yet seized them, it seemed, but the rain and debris from missiles hitting the Tower and nearby buildings had already made a mess of it— not to mention the panicking hordes of people as they ran for their lives and evacuation points and ships if they had them. 

Baekhyun couldn’t really tell the rumble of the storm from the rumble of the warcrafts above him. Hell— the rumble of his own mind was driving him crazy, too. 

Why were the Cabal invading them like this? Last thing he had heard, Emperor Calus didn’t mind Humanity much at all. After the Taken War, there had been an unspoken truce of sorts between the two races. Was this a return to the Dark Age? Where would the people go that didn’t have Fallen, or worse now, Taken? Taehyung was only a year old. 

Like he had done so many times as a young child, he looked up to the Tower for answers. It was already pretty much in shambles. It did nothing to calm him down. Baekhyun’s eyes naturally drifted, as he power-walked, to the Traveller— but it was maybe an even more chilling sight.

“What the fuck are they doing to you?” He cried out, sounding more distraught than he would have liked. The Traveller didn’t respond. It remained impassive, as a strange, star-shaped device lodged on its surface, wrapping around its form like tentacles. Or chains. Chains was a better word. From these tendrils, Baekhyun could distinguish Cabal cells expanding, covering the surface of the Traveller. 

“Light save us all,” A middle-aged man by him said, terrified. “They’re caging it!”

Caging it seemed to be the right assessment. Whatever it was, it was encasing the Traveller whole at an alarming rate. Lightning flashed ominously behind the Traveller, and Baekhyun refused to keep staring. He was sprinting now.

“ _Baekhyun! I brought Baekbeom, tell him exactly what you told me_!” Yeongja ordered urgently in his ear.

“ _Baekhyun, what’s happening?_ ” Baekbeom sounded calm, but Baekhyun could tell he was only making a front. Taehyung had stopped crying, probably in his father’s soothing arms.

“Cabal,” He said simply, feeling out of breath after running with so much weight. But he was nearly in the Tower now. “Cabal are full scale invading the City. I’ve never seen anything like it. Everybody’s leaving.” 

Guardians and even foot soldiers were coming from the direction of the Tower, passing the crowds in sparrows, tanks, and even running. He didn’t dare to look back, lest he discovered Cabal soldiers had taken to the streets already. Civilian lives would surely be lost then— very few survived Cabal, if any at all.

“ _You’re coming here_. _Right now_.” Baekbeom told him, commanding him. Baekhyun nodded, even if no one could see.

“Obviously. But there’s one more thing—” 

There was an explosion near enough that Baekhyun’s trashed comm mixed some signals and channels. Instead of his family, it was Commander Sooman-52 now, demanding all available Guardians and soldiers to rendezvous at the Tower’s Plaza.

And then, it was Baekbeom again, demanding answers instead of rendezvous.

“The Traveller! It’s the Traveller! They’re building like a cage around it, I don’t understand what for, but it can’t be good!” Baekhyun finally reached the Tower’s stairs. It was deathly quiet, and completely obscured. Baekhyun just hoped he didn’t have to fight any alien on his way to the hangar.

“ _No, it can’t be,_ ” His brother agreed. “ _I’m gonna send out a refugee signal out. Anyone who needs it, can come here. I’ll boost it up as much as I can_.”

Baekhyun was now dragging his immense duffel bag up the stairs to the elevator. He encountered a small robot with a broom, sweeping the floor as if nothing was wrong.

“I’ll try and get anyone I find with me, too,” Baekhyun panted. “Listen, I—”

“—Baekhyun Byun, what the fuck are you doing here right now?” A deep voice called from behind him. Baekhyun turned rapidly, scared and in no position to defend himself. He found Kris Wu and his Ghost rushing towards him in long strides, looking pissed off and dirty. He gritted his teeth at the sight, yet also instantly relaxed. 

Kris Wu was familiar, after all. A fucking jerk, but familiar. He was a Hunter, older, all looming and imposing. He had been around for long enough to have seen Baekhyun grow up and have lots of opinions about everything he did. So many opinions. 

Their relationship had many ups and many downs, if he had to be very minimal about its definition. They were currently in a very long down.

But Baekhyun knew an opportunity when he saw one.

“Kris fucking Wu, RouRou,” He said for all greeting, unable to keep the relief from seeping into his voice. “You’re gonna carry this for me. I’m getting out of here!”

Whatever steam was fuelling Kris seemed to be lost at that, his body visibly relaxing as he reached Baekhyun’s smaller form.

“Oh, good. I thought you were gonna do something stupid like join— never mind. Never fucking mind. Carry this, you said?” Kris stopped himself, shaking his head, and sharing a look with RouRou. Baekhyun had to stop himself from grinning at him.

“How has it been, Rou?” He asked.

“I’ve had better nights,” The Ghost deadpanned.

The Guardian grabbed the duffel bag from Baekhyun’s arms, but nearly dropped it in shock at the weight. He stared at Baekhyun like he was a madman. “What are you even carrying here?”

“Supplies!” Baekhyun replied, as if it was obvious. Wasn’t it obvious? “Do you really think I have time for explanations? Take me to the hangar, Wu!”

“Byun, do you really think I have time for carrying your stuff around?” The Hunter complained, throwing Baekhyun’s words back at him. Still, he accommodated the sack in his arms, and followed the grey-haired man towards the elevator, which was already waiting. No one was exactly calling it at this time.

Baekhyun pressed the ‘H’ button. The doors closed, as Kris dropped the bag unceremoniously on the floor. The elevator slowed down for a second, and the lights in it flickered, as the whole building shook with an explosion. This was a terrible déjà vu. 

He took a look at Kris. He had jet black hair these days, braided in some parts. It looked grimy. Kris’s cape was burnt in some places and stained with black liquid. His face was fixed in a scowl, worried. Baekhyun wanted to balk— he could distinguish a worried scowl from any other types of scowls on Kris Wu. Appalling. 

“What the fuck is even happening?”

Kris looked at him, without actually saying anything. At his silence, Baekhyun made a vague hand gesture. “The world is kinda ending outside. What the fuck, Kris?” 

Kris tore his eyes away from Baekhyun. He answered with no pretence, “No fucking clue.” 

RouRou, thankfully, offered Baekhyun some information he could actually work with. “They’re the Red Legion. A Cabal faction— they overthrew Emperor Calus a few years ago, but we didn't even know.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding me.” 

The Ghost sighed. “I wish. We have no idea how they got through the Wall’s defences, either. Intel says they’ve never been defeated in battle.”

“Rou, stop it,” Kris protested softly. “This is Byun you’re sharing sensitive information with.”

“Uhm, exactly, it’s Baekhyun, we—”

“—Please don’t say something like you care about me,” Baekhyun pleaded. “I’m terrified right now. I might just say ‘me, too’.”

It made Kris and the Ghost laugh, at least. Baekhyun offered them a weak smile. He _was_ truly terrified, after all. 

They got to the hangar. Kris grabbed the duffel bag with a huff, and the three of them rushed to the Häkke Vimana in the dark. There were hardly any crafts left. D.O’s Classical Nova and Chen’s Arrowhawk were gone, Baekhyun noted. He found himself hoping they were okay.

The foul smell of bodies and cryo-freeze hadn’t really left the ship in the hours it had been closed. Kris wrinkled his nose, but didn’t comment, just throwing the sack into it. Baekhyun nodded at him and went into his ship.

“Where are you going?” The Guardian asked, maybe against his better judgement.

“My brother’s place,” Baekhyun answered as he turned on the Vimana. “You’re welcome there if you survive this mess.”

“Sungwoo Dared me,” Kris informed Baekhyun seriously. “I have to become Vanguard if we lose the City. You can bet your ass I’m doing whatever I can so that doesn’t happen. I’m not leaving.”

Baekhyun was well aware of the Hunter’s Dare. How seriously Hunters took it. He really hoped Kris didn’t have to become Vanguard. It was bad enough to deal with him without him having to be his occasional boss.

“Then what the fuck are you doing here? Rendezvous at the Plaza.” Baekhyun nearly ordered.

“You derailed us.” Kris retorted. Baekhyun began closing the door of the ship.

“Well, I’ll see you down there, keep RouRou safe.” He waved at Kris, whose eyebrows shot up.

“Wait, hold up, you said—”

“—I lied!” Baekhyun yelled, rolling his eyes. Seriously, Kris could be so naïve. The door closed completely, and Kris maybe banged on it a couple of times, but Baekhyun was already taking off.

So maybe his dream of being a Guardian had never really died down, Baekhyun figured as he flew to find the Plaza among these ruins. He reckoned he knew his limits, however. He turned on the radio.

“Baekhyunnie to Baekbeommie,” He singsong-ed. “Are we getting through?”

“ _Loud and clear, Baekhyunnie,_ ” Baekbeom responded. “ _If you’re not with us in twelve hours or less, I swear on our father’s grave, I’m coming back for you._ ” 

“That’s not gonna need to happen,” Baekhyun assured, “I’ll keep you posted of everything here. I’m gonna try and hack the Vanguard channel.”

Baekhyun knew he didn’t have enough firepower to take down a whole Cabal fleet, but a few of the smaller ships or maybe ground soldiers? He could do that. Guardians might even appreciate it. Hacking the Vanguard radio channel was easy, too. Baekbeom didn’t need to know he was doing it to be on the loop of the fight rather than find the best escape route. 

The assault on the site was relentless, he quickly came to find out. He found a small group of Guardians in the Plaza, surrounded by a light shield from Sooman-52. It was hard not to recognise the imposing Exo male in the middle of it all.

Even if they could come back to life almost instantly, and therefore didn’t seem to mind it, Guardians were being slaughtered by Legionaries and Psions left and right. He began firing whatever the Häkke Vimana had to offer immediately, and it didn’t go unnoticed.

“ _Is that a Byun— Baekhyun Byun, get out of here right now_!” Came the Commander’s voice through his radio. 

“No.” He answered simply, as he shot down a Legionary with a freaking _flamethrower_ strapped to its back, making it explode into flames and black blood, just as the Commander’s shield started to crack. He was tired, it was obvious. “You need help and I can give it.”

“ _If you die, you won’t come back, Baekhyun Byun_!” The Commander protested, on the move down on the ground. He was a fierce fighter. 

“And neither will you, in case you haven’t noticed what the Cabal are doing to the Traveller!” The young man shot back. A Cabal ship had caught what he was doing, and was firing at him, but Baekhyun was faster and had great aim.

“ _Our most capable Guardians are already on the main ship and will put a stop to this. Go before it’s too late_!”

“You’re not the boss of me, Commander!” Baekhyun singsong-ed again as the Cabal ship went down. He should’ve been a singer in another life, maybe.

There was a very exhausted sigh on the other end of the line, resigned.

“ _Very well. Fight well, Baekhyun Byun_.” Commander Sooman-52 seemed to relent easily, but begrudgingly. There really was not much time to think, really, so Baekhyun got right back into it.

Defending the Plaza seemed almost like a pattern— Cabal fired their soldiers into it, and once the Commander and his small ensemble got rid of them, the alien race fired something a bit stronger, only to be always stopped by the Titan Vanguard’s strong shields.

Baekhyun wondered if it was a distraction from something bigger, his mind wondering to the Traveller once more. There was chaos on every radio line he visited, attacks on all flanks, and when things began to wind down on the Plaza, he moved to other areas, shooting from the sky, his bullets raining down on Cabal and the ships he encountered like they were part of the storm. He wasn’t alone in this, and he blended easily with the other Guardians.

And then, whatever happened, happened. 

Baekhyun just couldn’t really begin to explain it. It’s like he, too, felt a terrible pressure, and was caged and disconnected like the Traveller itself. One last burst of Light came from the Traveller before it was trapped completely in the Cabal prison, but the effects of it didn’t seem to really click to him until a Psion shot at Commander Sooman. Baekhyun saw it happen from three buildings away.

It went straight through his head— the man could be careless like that, not wearing any helmet since he was already all metal, his body crumpling to the floor. This was routine for Guardians, however, and his Ghost quickly began the reviving process. 

Baekhyun wasn’t sure why his eyes caught on that. Seconds passed, and it seemed like Sooman-52 was not getting up. Dread began to fill Baekhyun’s stomach. Guardians on the ground looked restless, and like they were starting to panic too.

A rapid scan of channels told Baekhyun everything he needed to know. 

Commander Sooman’s Ghost couldn’t revive him. The Light was gone.

The next movement he made was pure instinct. He broadcasted a message to the Guardians on the ground, as he began landing the ship on the edge of the Plaza. “Get the fuck into my ship now!”

Most of them hesitated. Some kept fighting and began going down just like their Commander, when encountered with the sudden imbalance of power. Baekhyun opened the gate to his Vimana, however, and even got out of his seat, to shoot at some space rhinos like they deserved. It filled him with satisfaction, seeing their black blood shoot up into the air like that and explode.

Only three Guardians made it into his ship, in the end. Ironically enough, it was a Titan, a Warlock, and a Hunter. Baekhyun closed the door and got back on his pilot seat without regarding them much— they were wounded, however.

They were up in the air in no time. Now, the priority was _definitely_ to escape.

“Is there anyone we can still help out?” He asked the shell-shocked Guardians. When he was met with silence, he turned, and asked louder. “Is there anyone we can still get out of here?”

The Hunter pulled his helmet off harshly. Shit. He looked younger than Baekhyun was, and lost, and afraid. He was bleeding from his forehead. Baekhyun had never seen a Guardian bleed. 

“I don’t know,” The boy –he was just a boy— answered honestly. “I-I don’t know where anyone is.”

“Commander Sooman is dead.” The Titan muttered despairingly.

“Chanyeol—” The Warlock suddenly exclaimed. “Chanyeol is up on that— that _thing_ all alone, they sent him on a suicide mission—” 

“Let’s get Chanyeol!” Baekhyun suggested, although it wasn’t a suggestion at all. After all, he was the one flying the craft.

The main Cabal ship was the star-shaped one, stuck on the Traveller’s surface like a leech. Other, smaller crafts attempted to stop Baekhyun’s beeline for it, he was fast and also trigger-happy. He managed to broadcast another message, this time to Baekbeom.

“Beom, the Light is gone.” He said simply. He got static at first, but eventually, Baekbeom’s voice echoed through the ship.

“ _What did you say_?”

“Whatever the Cabal did, Guardians are dying and not coming back. I currently have three with me— do any of you have your powers?” He asked the Guardians. He couldn’t exactly look away, but he heard their attempts at trying to do _anything_ and failing. “They don’t have their powers.” 

“ _This is really bad. Get out of there right now, Baekhyun_.”

“I’m just picking up a few strays—”

A Cabal ship he hadn’t accounted for nearly got them, but it exploded before anything happened. A glistening Arrowhawk was behind it, and a new voice came through Baekhyun’s radio.

“ _What are you still doing here, Baekhyun_?” Chen wondered, sounding actually pretty stern.

“Same as you, actually!” Baekhyun quipped. “Do you have D.O with you? My new friends and I are getting ourselves a Chanyeol.”

“ _I do have D.O with me, but he’s badly hurt,_ ” Chen replied. “ _You need to leave now, you could die! This is between Guardians and the Cabal. I’ll get Chanyeol_!”

“Now so can you, Chen. Die, that is, in case you didn’t notice! Now either help or get out!” The Häkke Vimana sped past Chen’s Arrowhawk, towards the main ship once more. He could see a huge Cabal, bigger than any he had seen before, face off a clearly wounded Guardian, on the top of it. That had to be Chanyeol.

The Cabal Commander, he was certain of that now, did something unexpected. He grabbed something, which at this distance Baekhyun couldn’t make out, but it had to be the Guardian’s Ghost with how he reacted. And he threw it off the ship.

He dove for it, without thinking. They could catch it before it reached the streets below if one of the Guardians on his ship was up to a little jumping. “We need to grab that Ghost or your Chanyeol is gonna be toast!” 

The Titan got up in an instant, suddenly re-energised. “Get me to it and I’ll get it!”

It required for them to get almost all the way down to the street, really, in a dangerous pirouette as Baekhyun pressed buttons to get the windows he had open. The Vimana was a large ship, not made for these acrobatics, and Baekhyun had a hard time with its flying.

The Titan discarded his chest plates quickly, just to fit through the opening, and with a manoeuvre that made Baekhyun gape in awe, he caught the falling Ghost in his hands and immediately squirmed back into the Häkke Vimana. Baekhyun closed the window and began to fly up again, to try and get Chanyeol. 

“Chanyeol is in danger!” The Ghost, a little male voice, screamed. “We need to get him!”

“We’ll go now, Toben,” The Titan soothed him as best as he could. “We just gotta—”

A body was falling towards them, Baekhyun realised with wide eyes. Chanyeol had been pushed off the Cabal craft. 

“Shit, fuck!” He cursed loudly. “Be careful back there, we’re turning!” 

He did a u-turn that was so fast, the Guardians all fell forward, groaning and yelling and crashing into the other side of the ship. Even he struggled, but he had to be faster than Chanyeol’s drop.

He did manage to catch Chanyeol— with the roof of the Vimana, which dented inwards with the impact. Baekhyun winced, and hoped the guy wasn’t dead. 

“Somebody needs to retrieve him,” He mentioned sheepishly, and the Titan was already on the move again. He had ditched his helmet as well, and Baekhyun was again floored by such a young, scared yet determined face.

“Open the door,” The Titan commanded. Baekhyun did, and watched with fascination how nimble the Titan was, even with his heavy build. He climbed the Vimana’s side easily, and Baekhyun extended the ramp so he had somewhere to fall with Chanyeol, dead or alive. 

Chanyeol was a Titan, or at least, had the banged-up armour of one. The other Guardian basically dropped him on the ramp, and Toben immediately rushed to his side. He then came down as well and dragged Chanyeol properly inside. Baekhyun closed the door of the craft, as the other two Guardians flocked to Chanyeol’s unconscious body as well.

“He’s alive!” Toben proclaimed, relieved.

This was probably it on rescue missions, he figured. The situation was looking dire, and Cabal were coming down on them fast. He sped away, flying the Häkke Vimana as fast as it could.

“Chen, I’ve got Chanyeol, if you’re still there, follow me!” He broadcasted to the Arrowhawk, which seemed engaged in fighting and losing. He returned the early favour by shooting down the other ship. 

“ _Copy that_ ,” Chen responded in lieu of thanks, and began flying right after Baekhyun. “ _Where are we going_?”

“Hopefully somewhere safe.” He changed channels, to speak to Baekbeom. “Beom, we’re on our way out. I’ll kept you posted.” 

“ _Great. Don’t stop flying until you reach the farm_.” 

It was finally somewhat silent then, as they began retreating and the Cabal allowed them to pass, uncharacteristically so. Only the continuous rain and thunder could be heard now that the fight was lost. Humanity was lost, probably.

“So, uhm,” Baekhyun began, “What are your names?”

Hours before, Baekhyun had been in Old America.


	2. palamon didn't shine, but it was a sanctuary

**ii. palamon didn’t shine, but it was a sanctuary**

It was approaching sunrise.

Kai, Sehun, and Tao. Titan, Hunter, and Warlock, respectively. All three of them had a terrible case of baby face— probably having died very young, once upon a time. They had been reborn quite recently, too, it seemed. Sehun hadn’t even been around yet for the Taken War, though the other two hadn’t fared much better.

They weren’t used to losing fights.

Tao cried and sobbed for what seemed –and probably were— hours, unashamed of how devastated he was. He had regal, crimson robes decorated with cherry blossoms motives that had been soiled and ripped, and messed up yet nice, soft-looking black hair. There had been a subtle war paint on his face, but whatever it was had been ruined by his constant tears. Nothing his Ghost, a little light just as elegant as him, whispered to the Warlock seemed to help calm him down. The Hunter by his side had taken to holding Tao, even if he looked just as perturbed.

Sehun had black hair as well, and handsome, sharp features. He had stopped bleeding a while ago, but he hadn’t bothered to wipe off the blood from the side of his face. Other than putting his arm around the stunned Warlock, he hadn’t moved much at all. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes were stormy. His Ghost had busied himself with floating around the Häkke Vimana in his own version of pacing. He had approached Baekhyun, introduced himself as Vivi, and that had been it.

Kai gave the impression of being the most composed out of all, even Baekhyun himself— however, his own actions betrayed his calm demeanour. He had towered over Chanyeol’s unconscious form with both their Ghosts, evaluating his condition fruitlessly. The Titan had been shedding piece by piece of armour as if it burdened him progressively more, and he ran his hands through his already tangled red hair almost compulsively. 

And Chanyeol, the other Titan— well. Chanyeol had been lucky enough to be unconscious for most of it.

Kai had been kind enough to remove his chest plates, top, and helmet from him, so Toben could work on his bruised body with more ease. It seemed the Ghosts could still heal, albeit more slowly, and it was a gamble to say if that ability would last for long.

Baekhyun couldn’t help but to steal a few furtive peeks, every now and then. He knew _of_ Chanyeol, more than anything, and had always resisted gaining more knowledge about the Titan than what was necessary. 

But Chanyeol was popular, and it wasn’t hard to see why. Even beat up as he was, he had striking good features, a platinum blond, bold haircut, and toned arms with some tattoos Baekhyun couldn't quite make out. The combination of skill, recent legend, and looks gave him a confident, dominant presence even as he slept. Or maybe Baekhyun was projecting.

Observing the Guardians and their Ghosts in his ship had been Baekhyun’s only relief from the tragic reality they were facing, after all. Without any adrenaline left, the scavenger couldn’t help but to instead feel more and more anguished, whenever he wasn’t busying himself in some way. It felt wrong to put on music when everything was so terrifying and solemn. But flying could be terribly dull, and dullness gave way for time to think. 

And think Baekhyun did. If the Traveller hadn’t been completely gone before, it had to be now— the disconnection the Guardians had suffered from its Light was proof of it. The Last City, literally the last refuge Humanity had had, was now occupied by Cabal. 

If this wasn’t the definite end, Baekhyun couldn’t even begin to imagine what a true apocalypse looked like. If he dwelled on it for too long, it made him tear up, in a way they hadn’t since his father’s untimely death. 

On the other side of the radio, there was not much company. Chen refused his conversation in a soft, resigned manner every time Baekhyun attempted to brighten their moods just a little bit. Baekbeom checked in at times, albeit briefly— just to make sure his little brother was still there, was still on his way, was still alive. Any venture made to call for Kris was met with deafening silence, and Baekhyun feared the worst. 

He had thought about how Humanity was on its last legs for a while. He just didn’t think extinction would come so violently to their own doorstep. 

Once they were over Eastern Europe, and only an hour left to reach Baekbeom’s farm, Baekhyun decided he needed to stretch his legs a bit. Check on the Guardians with some verbal reassurance. He could trust the Vimana’s auto-pilot course for a while. Baekhyun unbuckled his seatbelt, got up, and stepped away from the cockpit. He turned to face the others. 

Tao was no longer crying, at least. He still looked like a mess, eyes puffy and red, downcast towards his hands, leaning against Sehun’s body, and occasionally sniffling. Sehun himself looked up at Baekhyun when he heard his footsteps but made no comment. Kai seemed to be trying to sleep. 

Baekhyun waved awkwardly at Sehun. Sehun nodded back.

“Hey.” Baekhyun greeted, uncharacteristically small. He didn’t want to disturb them, but it was getting lonely. Both Tao and Kai also looked up to him, one pathetically, one sleepy. “We’ll be reaching our destination in about an hour. How are you guys holding up?”

That got Tao to start crying again, face twisting with pain as he hid it on Sehun’s shoulder. Sehun lifted a hand to the Warlock’s hair, comforting. Baekhyun noticed the Hunter was trembling. 

“P-Please don’t cry,” Baekhyun asked, alarmed. He hadn’t wanted to remind them of everything, he just— he just wanted someone to talk to. “I didn’t mean to upset you. We’ll be okay, Tao, I promise.”

“I’m sorry,” Tao replied, mid-sob. “I-I’m really grateful you’re helping us, I am. I just. I really don’t know how we’re going to come back from this.”

“I don’t think we do.”

The new, deep voice startled Baekhyun, hand reaching for his cannon almost instantly. However, it was only Chanyeol, he realised, who had his dark eyes open now— staring intensely, and unfocused, into the dent he himself had left on the Häkke Vimana.

Toben was the first one to react. “Chanyeol, you’re awake!”

“Toben,” The Guardian called, relieved but still disoriented. He reached out to touch the small creature. “I thought I had lost you.”

The Ghost hovered over the Titan’s face, assessing him. It blinked at him. “I thought _I_ had lost you, too. But this other Guardian saved us!”

Toben then looked at Baekhyun expectantly. Baekhyun stared back at it, confused. Chanyeol sat up very slowly –and really, Baekhyun thought it was unfair how hot those muscles of his were, given the terrible situation they were in, it was making him feel guilty to ogle— and turned to him. The other three Guardians also began to stare at him. 

Suddenly understanding, Baekhyun uttered an, “Oh! You mean me?”

“Yeah!” Toben confirmed. “What’s your name? I don’t think we’ve seen you around.”

“My name’s Baekhyun,” Baekhyun introduced himself. He straightened up, tried to seem proud of himself. “But I’m not a Guardian. I’m— I’m a scavenger.”

Chanyeol, as it turned out to be, had a very expressive face. He winced at Baekhyun with distaste, and Baekhyun sort of deflated. He amended quickly, “The Vanguard would rather call me a collector, though.”

“Commander Sooman, at the Plaza— he knew who you were,” Sehun mused thoughtfully. “He wasn’t happy that you were there.”

“You went on a mission with K— D.O, I mean,” Kai mentioned, stuttering. Baekhyun took note of his little slip but didn’t mention it. Many Guardians had more than one name, after all. “On Old America. Just yesterday. I remember him mentioning you.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol said. “You’re _that_ collector. Yeah. I remember D.O saying something about you, too.”

Baekhyun nodded, scratching his back and stretching. “Hopefully only good things. Even if I beat him at our bet. It made me sad to beat him. Tell that to him when we see him.” 

Kai’s eyes lit up. “You know where he is?”

Baekhyun nodded and pointed vaguely outside of the ship. “Yeah, he’s with Chen, they’re tailing us. I guess you didn’t realise. I didn’t think of telling you either, I’m sorry.”

The Titan looked like a wound-up spring, all of the sudden. Baekhyun offered him a sly smile. “You can talk to him on the radio, or at least try. Chen doesn’t want to talk to me.”

And the spring was off, almost shoving Baekhyun out of the way on his haste to get to the cockpit and the radio. It was kind of cute. Baekhyun made eye contact with Chanyeol, who somehow seemed amused as well, yet defeated. 

“I think we have to properly thank you for saving us. Saving me, too. So, thank you, Baekhyun.” The blond Guardian said, attempting a sad smile. He sighed almost immediately after, shoulders sagging, dejected. 

It was bittersweet, really— having them be grateful while looking like their dog had just died. Baekhyun didn’t really want to think of how many of their friends had actually died. How many of _his_ friends had died?

That trail of thought wasn’t helpful at all. Baekhyun gave Chanyeol a thumb up. “It was my pleasure. We need our Guardians.”

It was, somehow, the wrong thing to say. Chanyeol scoffed with disbelief.

“Chanyeol,” Tao called, sounding nervous. “Earlier. When you woke up. You said. You said something.”

He wasn’t daring to repeat it. Baekhyun bit his lip as he, too, recalled it. No one had acknowledged it, to focus on Chanyeol instead. 

Chanyeol looked at the Warlock for a moment, then down at the floor. The atmosphere inside the Häkke Vimana tensed once more, Baekhyun’s inane words’ work undone.

“We don’t come back from this,” Chanyeol repeated and confirmed with a hollow certainty. “How… How can we? I’ve… You can feel it, too, I’m sure. We’ve lost our Light. The Traveller is gone.”

No one could really dispute that.

Tao burst into a new fit of tears, hiding against Sehun, who didn’t really hesitate and pulled him into a new hug. Chanyeol didn’t look up. All the Ghosts floating around seemed at a loss of what to do. 

It occurred to Baekhyun then that he had twelve people –six humans, and six Ghosts— counting on him so they would get to safety. He rubbed his nape sheepishly as he pondered this. That was twelve people too many. He had no idea what to say, either, that would somehow make things better.

The truth was, after all, that he agreed with Chanyeol. There was no coming back from this.

For once in his life finding himself speechless, he slipped back into the cockpit without another word. Kai made space for him, and at least one of them looked a bit happy. D.O’s voice was soothing through the comm as he talked to the Titan, though he sent Kai away and promised to meet him once they landed. Kai didn’t really want to go, asking the scavenger if he could stay by him. Baekhyun wasn’t about to get in the way of puppy love and said yes. 

He took a seat, buckled himself in, and kept on flying towards the farm. 

For all the times Baekbeom had proclaimed his love for the Last City and how he would never willingly leave it again, he had abandoned it quite quickly, as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

Yeongja had only had to suggest it once— what would it be like to live somewhere else? Somewhere not as stifling as the City. Somewhere where they could make their own rules. Somewhere where she didn’t get arrested every time she got into a fight with arrogant Guardians or stole supplies from them— each Byun brother had bailed her out more than once. 

She had a wild spirit, after all. Baekbeom had had a wild spirit once, too, she argued, even if Baekbeom retorted that _no_ , he never did. Baekhyun agreed with his brother.

Still, having seen all that he had seen, and although he had stopped travelling with Baekhyun more than a decade ago, there _had_ to be a place even _he_ thought was better than life in the Last City.

That very same night, Baekbeom asked Baekhyun for help on two tasks: finding a good ring for the love of his life and finding a good place to call home.

The European Dead Zone had a very ominous name, to say the least. Its history was not much better— during the Collapse, a massive shard of the Traveller had dislodged itself from the entity and fallen to the ground, rendering the unfortunate mining town of Trostland and its surrounding area inhabitable.

“Not even Fallen go there,” Baekhyun had joked when presenting the results of his scouting to Baekbeom. “So I guess it’s out of the question.”

But Baekbeom’s good eye shone at the possibilities. Next thing Baekhyun had known, he had flown his brother out to the infamous EDZ, behind the Vanguard’s back, of course. 

The brothers had expected to find— well, nothing at all. The Shard had been rumoured to corrupt the land it had touched. However, all they found was an empty ghost town, a very angry and skittish Servitor, a haunted forest, and thriving nature. 

A few kilometres from Trostland’s centre, they found a tiny village, which Baekbeom had deemed perfect for his purpose. From the porch of the ruined house that would become his new home, they could see the Shard of the Traveller, and the permanent storm and darkness that surrounded it. It was a terrifying, beautiful sight.

Baekbeom proposed to Yeongja with the Shard as the backdrop. Baekhyun found it a bit creepy, but Yeongja had loved it. She had naturally said yes and insisted of being part of fixing up the place. After a shotgun wedding in the City, the happy couple had taken off immediately to devote themselves to their new residence. 

Baekhyun visited often, bringing them supplies, tools, and whatever his brother and sister-in-law needed to survive. In the near three years they had spent in the wild, the farm had thrived and grown, with actual crops and actual animals. It hadn’t been long before a couple of people, just as eccentric as the Byuns, had caught wind of their little project and moved in on the buildings next door. It was a tiny community— hard-working and peaceful.

It was also, technically, illegal. 

“The European Dead Zone,” Chanyeol repeated, almost sarcastic. He looked angry, frustrated— much different from the Gloomy Chanyeol that had only woken up a bit ago. Baekhyun wasn’t really sure which one he preferred. “You do know why they call it that, don’t you?”

He was staring Baekhyun down. There were at least ten centimetres and a bit of muscle of difference between them, but Baekhyun refused to be intimidated.

“Yes.” He said through gritted teeth. “Even if I didn’t, it’s kind of obvious.”

“So, you gotta know then, no one is allowed to be here, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol sounded like he was a parent scolding a disobedient child. “This is just asking for trouble. It’s against the City’s rules.”

Baekhyun really had to fight back the urge to roll his eyes dramatically, but he was sure he ended up making a face anyway. He was starting to prefer Unconscious Chanyeol the most.

Once Chanyeol's sad mood had subsided, only half an hour away from the farm, he had been quick to take some semblance of leadership among the other Guardians. They were happy to follow his lead, which wasn’t much— the Titan just asked them to recount what had happened to each of them back at the Tower, what type of Cabal had they faced, where, how, as if trying to find out where things had started to go wrong. 

Tao had been trying out new shaders on his robes with Candy, his Ghost, looking to find the perfect shade to fit that week’s mood. Sehun had been sparring with Kai in their dorm. Chanyeol himself had been travelling in his own ship back from a mission in the Moon— he seemed to like it over there.

Then Tao had been forced to brave out the storm in his newly fashioned clothes, as the first explosions destroyed the store. Sehun and Kai had been able to ambush some Cabal that made it into the Tower and fight their way out of it. Chanyeol was ordered to make his way into the main Cabal warship, lodged as it was on the Traveller, and disable its shield so other Guardians could charge into it. D.O had taken him up in his Classical Nova. 

Tao, Sehun, and Kai had managed to regroup in the Plaza with Commander Sooman-52 and other fighters. Chanyeol had been able to destroy the shields of the ship— the Immortal, it was called. 

And then, things had just gone to shit. The Traveller was trapped. Sooman got gunned down. D.O and Chanyeol lost communications. Chanyeol met the Cabal Commander and got thrown off to his death.

Once that subject had been exhausted, Chanyeol had turned to Baekhyun, questioning who he was exactly and where he was taking them. Baekhyun, of course, had been vague with his identity— what more did they need than what they already know? He hadn’t hidden they were heading into the EDZ, however. And Chanyeol wasn’t really digging that. 

“Here’s the thing about City rules, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun drawled out, eyes not leaving the tall Titan’s own. “They stop applying once you leave the City.”

Chanyeol’s jaw clenched. Behind him, Sehun hid a smirk with his hand. Kai, who had taken the co-pilot’s seat next to Baekhyun, looked back and forth between them with nervous amusement.

“The Vanguard might not agree with that,” Chanyeol retorted. “You might not answer to them, _scavenger,_ but we do.”

There it was again— the disgust. The disapproval. Baekhyun arched an eyebrow at the Guardian, and while it hurt –his job title was awesome to him, thank you very much— this wasn’t treatment he was unaccustomed to. Guardians were so full of themselves sometimes. Most of the time. All of the time. 

“I’m gonna go out on a limb here, maybe hurt your feelings a little bit,” He began, irritation simmering under the words that left his mouth. “But ask yourself this— exactly _what_ Vanguard? Sooman-52 is dead, for good. Jongok, what?” Baekhyun gestured to the whole ship grandly. “She just dropped off the face of the Earth when the going got tough, I suppose. And then Sungwoo— Sungwoo Dared, that’s with a capital D, Kris Wu to become Vanguard if we lost the City, which we did!”

He couldn’t help but to get up as he continued. The Vimana wouldn’t veer too off course for a little rant, anyway.

“Do you even realise how much of a bad idea that is? Kris Wu as Hunter Vanguard? That’s the single worst idea Sungwoo has ever had, hands down. Give me a fucking break. And to prove it to you!” Baekhyun pointed at Chanyeol, jabbing his naked chest with his own gloved index finger harshly. “I will ask you, where is either of them right now? Because Wu isn’t answering any of my calls. So, either he bailed, like Jongok, or he’s dead, like Sooman.”

Chanyeol had a totally different expression now— he looked shocked and appalled, if Baekhyun had to describe it. He stared down at the spot where he had been poked by Baekhyun like he couldn’t believe the little man had done so.

“All of this without me even mentioning how fucking _high_ the possibility of all your and my friends that aren’t in these two ships right now are _dead_. In fact, I don’t even know a single one of you! I could’ve brought, I don’t know, my helpless elderly neighbours along. But I chose Guardians, instead, because—”

The Häkke Vimana started beeping dangerously, to signal it was starting to get too low, nearly touching the top of the trees they passed. Baekhyun stopped himself and sat again, pulling the craft up once more in a jarring manner that made everyone wobble. 

He inhaled. Exhaled. Inhaled. Exhaled again.

Okay, so maybe he had gone a bit too far. He was under far too much stress. He didn’t actually know if his neighbours were elderly or not. The past few hours had been just too much. It had all come closer to breaking Baekhyun than he would have liked to admit. 

Baekhyun was quick to anger. Also quick to come down, usually, but right now, he wasn’t feeling it. He could instead feel –and in Kai’s case, actually see from the corner of his eye— how everyone was watching him. It made him feel self-conscious.

“We’ll be at the farm in ten minutes.” He announced as if nothing had happened. “Put on a shirt on, Chanyeol. You’re not meeting my family half-naked.” 

The satisfaction it brought him as the Titan and the other Guardians realised that he was probably bringing them to and jeopardising the safety of his own home was short-lived. He started thinking that maybe he _was_ jeopardising the safety of his brother’s home, and that was an unpleasant feeling. 

It was kind of too late for that, now. He could hear Sehun, Tao, and even Toben whispering to Chanyeol, seemingly scolding him. Kai stayed put on his seat, as Baekhyun moved a hand to turn on the communicator, to let Chen know they were nearly there, and was surprised and mortified to see it had been on the whole time.

“Who heard that?” He adventured out, almost squeaking. Kai, by his side, snorted. The clear culprit. He had asked Baekhyun to keep the line open, in case D.O wanted to talk to him, and Baekhyun just— he forgot. 

“ _I did._ ” Baekbeom’s amused voice came through. “ _I was about to ask you what was going on, but it was too good to interrupt._ ”

“ _I have so many thoughts_ ,” Chen added. “ _Very sobering ramble, but also, loved the way you put Chanyeol in his place. Ten out of ten, would recommend to all my friends_.”

“ _I’m so embarrassed for you._ ” D.O admitted, voice weak and rough but still there.

Baekhyun groaned. “I’ll just see you guys there.”

He turned off the communicator, cheeks flaming.

Exactly nine minutes later, the Häkke Vimana and Chen’s Arrowhawk were landing side by side in the ample landing strip, on the cliff, a few metres away from the actual farm. Baekhyun pressed a few buttons, and the doors of the Vimana opened. Without really waiting for the others, he just stepped around the Guardians and Ghosts, crossing the ship to be able to be the first one out of the craft.

On the other side, Baekbeom awaited, tense and relieved at the same time. Baekhyun practically jumped out of the Vimana and embraced his brother tightly. His elder brother returned the embrace, even giving him a wet kiss on the cheek. Baekhyun screeched and laughed but didn’t pull away. 

“Baekhyunnie,” Baekbeom started, and Baekhyun half-expected words of concern and love. Instead, what he got was a, “What did you do to our poor Vimana to smell like that?”

Baekhyun laughed again, and stepped away from his brother, wiping his eyes. “Didn’t I tell you I had to be a morgue this morning? Or, I guess, yesterday’s morning. And then this trip, I think we were all pretty dirty, sweaty, and bloody. I stopped noticing it flying over the Himalayas.” 

Baekbeom ruffled Baekhyun’s hair, which was indeed matted with sweat. He then looked up at the Guardians stepping off after Baekhyun, looking uncertain and lost. Chen and D.O were taking a bit longer, D.O clearly having difficulty walking. As soon as he saw this, Kai rushed to his aid.

“Welcome, Guardians,” Baekbeom greeted. “I’m sorry for the circumstances that have brought you here. However, I promise you, this place is safe for you. We have running water, electricity, food, and enough beds for all of you. My name is Baekbeom Byun.”

There was a pause as they regarded the older Byun. He looked like Baekhyun, yet older and like he had fought a bear, face marred with scars and an eyepatch to boot. It had been a long while since the stares had bothered Baekbeom, though.

“We can’t ever repay you from getting us out of that situation,” Vivi, Sehun’s Ghost, thanked them. “We hope we don’t become a burden to any of you.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, though,” Sehun added. “What exactly is this place?”

“This is my farm,” Baekbeom answered simply. “We’re just a bunch of lunatics who decided we wanted to live off the grid. It started with just my wife and I, but we’ve grown. And now, I guess, we’ll grow more.”

“Baekhyun!” A female voice called, and Baekhyun turned to see Taeyeon with Taehyung in her arms. His whole face lit up at the sight of the woman and his nephew, and he rushed over to them. Baekbeom could handle the logistics of the Guardians, after all. He had family to see. 

Taeyeon was a skilled sniper from the City’s militia who had grown tired of the politics of factions and the Vanguard. She had also been Baekhyun’s girlfriend for a bit, back when Baekhyun had thought he could have intimate relationships. It had been a long time since then. They had remained good friends, because not many people understood Baekhyun the way she did— and he understood her. Once Baekbeom’s crazy farm idea had been made official, and he had talked to Taeyeon about it, she had been sold on also joining. She had even convinced her present girlfriend, Tiffany, of moving with her.

It was a hard life, she admitted to the scavenger. But it was much easier to see the stars here, and she babysat Taehyung often. The toddler made grabby hands at Baekhyun as soon as he saw him.

“Kyoong!” The boy greeted happily, full of energy— it was the closest to Uncle Baekhyunnie they had gotten, but it was an ambitious nickname to ask of a newly-turned-one-year-old. Baekhyun held and hugged his nephew, kissing him on the forehead. 

“Taehyunnie!” He greeted back, and then moved in to kiss Taeyeon familiarly on the cheek. After what he had been through the past few hours, he figured not even Tiffany would be mad at him for the gesture of affection.

“Taeng.” He called the older woman, who smiled beatifically at him. An angel, she was. How he ever let her go, he couldn’t fathom at that moment.

“Baekyoong.” She called just as affectionately. Her smile wavered a little, and she squeezed his arm. “How are you?”

Baekhyun didn’t answer right away. Instead, he focused his attention on Taehyung, who babbled nonsensically at him, humming along as if he was hearing the most interesting story of all. Taehyung hadn’t grasped words completely just yet. He had only began walking a few days ago, right before his first birthday party.

He was just a child, barely beginning his life. How would Baekhyun bring him supplies if there was no City to provide them? A knot slowly formed in his throat, and Taeyeon, ever so perceptive, squeezed his arm again. 

“Stop,” He asked her, sounding cheery somehow, for the sake of his nephew. He blew a raspberry at Taehyung and tickled his stomach, who exploded into loud giggles. He put the toddler down on the grass, who immediately fell on his butt gently. “I don’t want to start crying yet.”

He glanced over back at the Guardians and was taken aback when he saw Chanyeol watching him silently. The Titan didn’t really look away. Baekhyun caved, and did so first, turning his eyes to Taehyung again. He kneeled over by him, the kid pulling on his pants insistently.

“Tiffany went into Trostland with Yeongja and RM as soon as you called, last night,” Taeyeon informed him, blessedly changing the subject. “The three of them thought a few transmission beacons around the church and the salt mines could boost our signals through the mountains, so we can broadcast messages. Maybe we can receive some, too.”

Baekhyun huffed in fake indignation.

“So much for total isolation.” He joked. “Did they really go in the middle of the night, too? That’s so risky. Who knows what lurks around this place?”

“Had you been here, Baekyung, you would’ve joined them.” Taeyeon teased him easily. “You should get back to your Guardians. They’re looking over here like they need your guidance or something.”

“They must be _really_ lost.” Baekhyun quipped, but upon looking up, he realised that indeed, Chanyeol wasn’t alone in his staring now. Sehun wasn’t even being subtle with how he bore his eyes into Baekhyun’s form, while Chen and Tao at least tried to pay attention to Baekbeom. D.O and Kai were engrossed in each other.

Baekhyun ruffled Taehyung’s hair, who babbled again in response. He ruffled Taeyeon’s hair as well when she went down to pick the toddler up, and she swatted his hand away with a yell. Cackling at her reaction, he went back to the group.

“—so just make yourself useful, and it’ll be fine.” Baekbeom was saying, well aware he had lost the Guardians’ attention somewhere along with Baekhyun’s. He was patient, however, unlike Baekhyun. “You don’t have to stay here forever, but this is a refuge for you right now. Count with all of us.”

Everyone gave their acknowledgements in different ways, mostly grunts. 

“Thank you for letting us come here,” Chanyeol said, and while he was speaking to Baekbeom, he was looking at Baekhyun. “Really. We need somewhere we can regroup. Maybe come up with a game plan.”

“Just up in the air you said there was no coming back from this.” Tao accused bitterly. He seemed to regret his words immediately, instantly ashamed, but it was done. 

Chanyeol looked at Tao. Nodded slowly.

“I said many things up in the air, didn’t I?” He turned once again to look at Baekhyun, and was he always this intense? Baekhyun was kind of into it. It sucked. “And maybe I wasn’t wrong in saying them, either. But maybe there are more ways to look at this, and I’m just feeling too hopeless right now to see them. I’m sorry for that.”

Baekhyun offered him a nod. It was an acceptance to his apology. Chanyeol nodded back.

“We can’t give up, yet,” Chen added. “At the very least, we need to find… The others. Someone else.”

“I could use some sleep right now in a real bed,” Sehun chimed in. “Can we start our regrouping with that?” 

Everyone chuckled. Baekbeom nodded. “Let me show you to your beds.”

Baekhyun had his own room in the house Baekbeom had adopted, of course. It was a room meant for a couple. Baekbeom had this fantasy in which Baekhyun would decide to settle down and live with them. Baekhyun had tried to explain many times that that was a long way from happening, but Baekbeom reckoned it was better to be prepared. Also, he missed living with his younger brother, though that was something only Yeongja would admit for him.

The rooms next to his were probably meant for all of their combined future children, although they had never spoken about that. Baekbeom had probably worked all night to build the flimsy military bunk beds that now occupied them. Taeyeon had probably lent them to him— she had made off with a lot of strange things, when she had finally left the City’s militia. 

Tao, Sehun, D.O and Kai settled in one room, while Chanyeol and Chen took the opposite one. Chen helped him drag his ridiculously full duffel bag from the Häkke Vimana, and even laughed when he spotted the Two-Tailed Fox peeking out from it.

Baekhyun closed the door behind him quietly. His whole body felt sore, now that the tension was leaving it slowly but surely. He hadn’t even realised how tight he had held his muscles the whole time, even in the presence of his family.

Baekhyun took a seat on the bed’s feet. He removed his heavy-duty gloves and rubbed his face with his sweaty hands. He felt disgusting. He needed a new shower.

He also needed a good sob session. He could feel it in the knot in his throat, in the sting behind his eyeballs, in the unsettling pit of his stomach.

And most importantly, perhaps, he needed to work. Who knew who else would have had received Baekbeom’s message and was set to arrive soon? There were many preparations to make, accommodations to help out with. He wasn’t certain if any of the Guardians he had brought along had access to Jongok’s intelligence logs, but _he_ did, and maybe there was useful information in them. He wanted to read up on this Red Legion, supposedly undefeated, and find a way for it to be defeated.

He did none of these things. Instead, Baekhyun roughly removed his poncho, tossing it off into a corner of the room. He did the same for the rest of his armour, until he was left with the tight-fitting thermal pants and t-shirt he wore under everything. He fell back on the bed, without even managing to open the stiff sheets and crawl under them before he was asleep. 

It was approaching twilight.

Baekhyun woke up slowly, feeling warm, foggy, sleepy, and hungry. Someone –probably Baekbeom or Yeongja— had come into his room while he was asleep to get him under the covers.

As the grey-haired man sat up in bed, recollections of the night before slowly made their way into his mind, and the warmth soon left him to make way for cold instead.

That’s right. His whole world had sort of been finished and done for last night. 

There was a lot of noise coming from outside the house. With lack of anything better to do, and no desire to stay idle in bed, Baekhyun got up and looked through his window.

And wow. There hadn’t been that much people when he had gone to sleep. Now, the farm was bustling with activity. He recognised Tiffany and Taeyeon helping a couple of young-looking men unload crates from their ship, which had clearly been on the receiving end of a lot of recent fighting. RM, their resident hermit, was speaking to a group of girls, making a lot of hand gestures as he spoke, signalling different buildings of the farm. Kai and Chen, under the guidance of someone who seemed to be wearing Cryptarch robes, were setting up equipment and strange drapes in the porch of an unoccupied house no one had gotten around to adopting. Sehun was drinking something by the fountain, speaking perhaps to his Ghost. Baekbeom was chatting, by the hangar, to none other than Lord Donghae. 

Baekhyun left his room, and from his doorway, he could see into one of the rooms destined for Guardians that Tao was still asleep in one of the bunk beds, and there was one Guardian Heechul asleep in another.

All these new faces could only mean the farm’s broadcast was being heeded. This excited Baekhyun, who rushed down the stairs, barely dressed, and went into the kitchen to find Yeongja chatting with D.O— who had his nephew in his arms, shockingly, feeding him.

Baekhyun first reached Yeongja, hugging her tightly.

“My beautiful sister!” He exclaimed, the sight of her becoming another source of relief and energy. He knew logically that she was capable of riding into Trostland and back on her own, and even more so with Tiffany and RM— but Baekhyun had been worried, nonetheless. The woman laughed as she hugged him back. “How are you?”

“I’m unable to breathe, you’re squeezing so hard!” She protested, though she didn’t sound out of breath at all. She pulled back to give Baekhyun a once-over. “How are you, though? Did you sleep well?” 

“As well as I could.” He replied, finally letting her go. He regarded D.O then, curiously, with a nod. “D.O, my man! How did you sleep?” 

With a toddler in his arms, and feeding him soup, of all things, D.O looked incredibly tamer and softer than he had ever before in Baekhyun’s presence. He even offered Baekhyun a sweet, heart-shaped smile. It was a day of miracles.

“I slept plenty on the way here, to be honest with you,” The Titan admitted, as he gave Taehyung a spoonful of soup. “I can’t move much still, but I tried to help your brother as much as I could— now I’m helping Yeongja.” 

“He’s a wonderful babysitter!” Yeongja praised, and D.O ducked his head bashfully. 

Baekhyun hummed. “I can see that. I also saw how you were super beat up. What happened to you, back at the City?”

D.O shrugged. “I’ve been told I took Chanyeol up to the Immortal, apparently. I don’t really remember anything after we supposedly arrived from Las Vegas. Ink says we were waiting for Chanyeol’s signal to ambush the ship, but we got shot down. We… Lost the Light before Ink got to heal me properly.” He sighed. “Then Chen found us, and I guess you can figure out the rest.”

“You must’ve been really hurt if you’re still feeling it now.” Baekhyun commented, cooed immediately after when Taehyung grinned at him. “Chanyeol’s Ghost had to work for a while to heal him, too.”

“As long as they can still heal us, I don’t really care how long it takes them,” D.O told him, big owlish eyes looking up at Baekhyun. “Really, how much time before they can’t do that, either?”

“We’ll have to wait and see.” Baekhyun merely answered. He decided to change the subject. “I saw a bunch of people out there! Your broadcast beacons worked, Yeongja!”

Yeongja chuckled. “Did you ever doubt me? A lot of people have sent us messages, too. We won’t be the only refugee camp, but we were the first, it seems.”

“I saw Guardian Heechul asleep, upstairs,” Baekhyun claimed. “He’s one of my favourites, so this has paid off already. Do you know who else made it?” 

“Let’s see... Lord Donghae is here.” D.O began listing, wiping Taehyung’s mouth with a cloth napkin, as he was done feeding him. The toddler didn’t struggle to get down immediately, choosing to instead lean on the Titan. “And some other Guardians. A fireteam called BLACKPINK, and Guardian CL.”

“RM offered his home to some kids called J-Hope and Jimin. They’re sweethearts, really.” Yeongja added.

“Cryptarch BoA was around, too.” D.O remembered.

“And, well, civilians.” Yeongja waved this part off, as if it was the least important part. “I think I saw that bartender of yours, Baekhyun. Hodong, was it?”

Baekhyun’s whole face must’ve lit up with how Yeongja and D.O laughed, Taehyung laughing along with the adults.

“Those are the best news I could ever get.” Baekhyun was only half-joking. “Heechul is here, Hodong is here— the whole gang might just make it, and then this would definitely be all worth it. Could we open a bar in your barn, Yeongja?”

“No.” Yeongja denied him easily, and laughed at the disappointed, exaggerated pout Baekhyun gave her. At that moment, Taehyung began fussing on D.O’s lap, and the Titan began to look a bit lost. Yeongja rushed to his aid.

“What’s wrong, Taehyunnie?” The mother cooed, taking her son and bouncing him gently on her hip. “Do you think it’s time for a bath before bed? It is pretty late for you, baby!”

Taehyung babbled in possible agreement. Yeongja didn’t say goodbye to them before leaving the kitchen, still talking with Taehyung. Baekhyun then turned to look at D.O, who was staring right back.

There was an awkward silence, until D.O took a breath and began speaking, more shyly than before.

“I didn’t get the chance to properly thank you—”

Baekhyun groaned, effectively interrupting him. “I don’t think I’ve ever been thanked so many times in my life. Let alone by Guardians. Normally, I’d gloat—” He shrugged. “—It’s depressing to kick you when you’re down.”

D.O didn’t really stop. 

“I still think I have to say it,” He retorted seriously. “I’ve been underestimating you ever since I met you. You were right yesterday about the Taken… Taking again. You held your own with hardly any of our help there. You did the same at the City, from what I’ve been told.” 

Was Baekhyun preening? He felt like he could preen. D.O sounded nothing short of honest and sincere, and it was _amazing._ Was this what dreams come true felt like?

“And you brought us here,” D.O continued. “I’ve been thinking about what you said to Chanyeol, earlier, and you’re right. You didn’t have to help us. You chose to do so. I don’t know if it means we have any sort of fighting chance against— against this Red Legion thing. But you’re giving us an opportunity out of the goodness of your heart, and I— I do need to thank you for it.”

Baekhyun had to commend D.O for maintaining eye contact throughout his whole speech. His cheeks had gotten progressively redder as he spoke, but he had kept his ground, even as Baekhyun began grinning smugly. 

He felt warm all over.

“D.O,” He answered, fake sniffling. “That is the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

D.O glowered at him, but it was without heat. “I haven’t said much to you at all, I think.” 

“Are there sweeter things then coming my way?” Baekhyun gasped. “Then I have to get you straight right away, so there aren’t any misunderstandings.”

The Titan looked at him questioningly, as Baekhyun leaned in conspiratorially. The scavenger was more serious now, dark eyes glinting with something D.O had probably no way of recognising for what it was. No matter. What mattered is that Baekhyun knew. 

“I’m not doing this out of the goodness of my heart,” Baekhyun confessed. “And I have some advantage over you, too. I always do. Maybe I’m the one underestimating you now, though.”

He didn’t really stick around to answer D.O’s questions, if he had any. The Titan remained silent, as Baekhyun stood up and practically ran out of the house.

Making a beeline for Baekbeom and Lord Donghae was easy. He hardly knew any Guardian to have them stop him, and RM was the only acquaintance who merely waved happily at Baekhyun upon seeing him.

The hangar had probably been added during the Golden Age, when ship use had become mainstream for even common citizens. It had remained empty until Baekbeom had left his own family-sized Wanderlonging inside. Tiffany, Taeyeon, and RM had added to the collection when they had arrived, but never had Baekhyun seen the large building so stocked with semi-damaged crafts until now. 

“Baekhyun Byun. You look much younger out of that horrid poncho.” Lord Donghae said for all welcome, although he did salute Baekhyun. The scavenger didn’t miss a beat. 

“Lord Donghae. You look exactly the same with that helmet on. Aren’t you sweaty?”

The Crucible handler chuckled. 

“I see an invasion on our home turf hasn’t really changed you, Baekhyun. I’m slightly glad— but only slightly,” Lord Donghae commented, then turned to the elder Byun. “And your brother is still much more of a dear. I’m very glad for that.” 

Baekbeom shuffled his feet, smiling. “Aw, shucks, Lord. Thank you for that.”

Even Baekbeom, nearly thirty-five years old, turned modest around the centuries-old Titan. Lord Donghae waved him off easily, as if it was obvious.

“Having Baekbeom Byun open the doors of his secret home to Guardians is a sign of hope.” Lord Donghae claimed. “And hope is set to becoming a rare commodity, I’m sure, with the lack of the Light. But you have gathered a remarkable group of Guardians, here, Baekhyun. We might just stand a chance against the Red Legion, if we find our Vanguard.”

“Any word on any of them?” Baekhyun wondered. Lord Donghae, sadly, shook his head.

“Not even a single peep. It’s still early, however. Days may pass before we hear anything.” Lord Donghae then gestured to somewhere behind him. “Chanyeol here was about to tell us what he had found out about the Cabal that invaded us, however.”

Chanyeol stepped out of a dark corner then, making Baekhyun jump in surprise. Chanyeol seemed instantly apologetic.

“I’m sorry,” He said, in that ridiculously deep voice of his, raising his arms in a universal show of saying he was not a threat. “Did I scare you?”

“Someone as big as you shouldn’t be able to sneak up on anyone like that.” Baekhyun muttered, a hand over his heart, clutching it dramatically. Chanyeol sheepishly ran a hand through his blond hair. Baekbeom and Lord Donghae, who had been watching the interaction, merely laughed. 

“Please, Chanyeol,” Lord Donghae prodded. “Share with the class what you know.”

The change from awkward, gentle giant to a more intense version of the Leader Chanyeol Baekhyun had met in the Häkke Vimana was a bit jarring in how fast it happened. If the scavenger nearly missed the first words he said, he would have to blame it on the whiplash it gave him. 

“Lord Donghae, do you trust the Byuns then?” Chanyeol asked to confirm, but he wasn’t really looking at Baekbeom. Everyone seemed to just trust Baekbeom, and Baekhyun bristled at that. He was cuter, after all.

“Of course he does!” He protested.

“Of course I begrudgingly do,” Lord Donghae amended. “The Byuns have been among the Tower’s allies for generations. Baekbeom and Baekhyun come from a long line of— collectors of many assets for the Vanguard and the Last City. They can be trusted.”

Without further questions, Chanyeol cleared his throat.

“The Red Legion are elite Cabal warriors. Crème de la crème, if you will. They have invaded multiple systems ever since their formation, and they never leave with anything less than total obliteration of their opponents.” 

“They sound like wonderful guests to have over for tea.” Baekhyun quipped, in an attempt to keep things light. Chanyeol smirked very faintly at him. 

“They’re led directly by the Cabal Emperor— one Dominus Ghaul, who is here personally, too. You may remember him for overthrowing Emperor Calus not too long ago, though it wasn’t a news piece that really made much of a splash here.”

“I liked Emperor Calus, that’s a shame.” Baekhyun commented. A glare from Lord Donghae, even if it was through the lens of his helmet, was enough to shut him up, making a face.

The superior Titan turned his attention to Chanyeol once more. “You said the Dominus is here, Chanyeol? Did you meet him?” 

Chanyeol nodded grimly. Baekhyun was quick to connect the dots— the enormous Cabal he had seen throw Chanyeol off the Immortal. That had to have been Dominus Ghaul.

“He nearly killed me, and he would’ve succeeded, had it not been for Baekhyun.” Chanyeol replied, nodding at the grey-haired scavenger. “We spoke briefly.”

Baekhyun winced. Baekbeom inquired, “Did he have anything interesting to say?”

Chanyeol laughed at the question, but it was an empty, sad sound. “He did. He said, and I quote, that it wasn’t that I— that us Guardians— that we weren’t brave. We’ve just merely forgotten the fear of death, and that he’d reacquaint me with it.” 

There was a small silence. Chanyeol took a deep breath.

“The reacquainting isn’t going well. Fear of death isn’t very nice.” He offered them a tight-lipped smile, but he had a dimple. Baekhyun fought the urge to poke it, and instead he just smiled at Chanyeol with the same lack of enthusiasm.

Lord Donghae hummed. “It’s never easy to have an enemy push exactly where it hurts. This… Ghaul isn’t precisely wrong. Perhaps we have grown too complacent. Did he happen to mention what he wanted with the Traveller?” 

“No,” Chanyeol admitted. “But Toben hacked a few consoles— the Immortal has been in the making ever since the Taken War. It’s a Cabal warship unlike any other. I’m thinking Dominus Ghaul had plans for the Traveller for a long time, but what exactly, I can’t say.”

“Well, that’s easy,” Baekhyun asserted. When everyone looked at him, he raised an eyebrow at them. “What does anyone in this planet want to do with the Traveller? It’s the Light, what he probably wants.”

He ruffled his own hair, looking down at the grass. It felt cold under his bare feet. He was starting to regret leaving the house without any shoes.

“If that ship had the way of stopping the Light’s flow to the Guardians,” Baekhyun continued. “What’s to say it doesn’t have the way to direct the Light towards _him_ and his Cabal?” 

Lord Donghae murmured to himself, stroking his own chin thoughtfully.

“This a good point. Chanyeol, we must work on it.” He ordered. The taller Titan agreed, and they began speaking among themselves more quietly about the implications of this.

Baekbeom used the opportunity to beckon Baekhyun with his finger and shoot a significant glance to the dirt path that led, after a good hour of travelling, to Trostland. Baekhyun got the hint and stepped away with his brother.

“Aren’t you cold like that?” Baekbeom asked, once they were out of ear range from anyone else. “You looked cold earlier, in your room. I tucked you in and you made puppy noises all the while. It took me back to my childhood, thanks for that.”

“I knew it had to be you,” Baekhyun said, pushing Baekbeom’s shoulder with his own gently. “Thanks for _that_.”

Baekbeom hummed. Nodded. Then casually mentioned: 

“I also took the liberty of taking your datapad. Going through those intelligence logs of yours that you always brag about.”

Baekhyun stopped for a moment to process this, then just snickered. He hadn’t even bothered with the thing since they had arrived. Of course Baekbeom had. “And what did you find?”

“I just searched for these Guardians you brought to my farm! No big deal!” Baekbeom replied innocently. “It took a bit of guessing, with all those codenames and numbers. But I think I figured out if they’re to be trusted or not.”

“Well,” Baekhyun scratched his jaw. “I’ve never looked them up. I’d love it if you shared what you knew with me, too. So I can know if I can trust them.”

Baekbeom grinned.

“Let me start with your new friends, then. Chen.”

“Hardly my new friends, really—”

“Stormcaller,” Baekbeom recited, most likely from memory. Baekhyun was reminded of how his father made them read documents and retain as much information as possible from them with one swift view. The elder of the brothers had always won. “One of the heroes of the Taken War. They call him Kingslayer, of course. Also, he’s the bane of Fallen in Old Russia— his first kill as a Risen was a Devil Captain, and he single-handedly got rid of the Prime Servitor and the Archon Priest from the House of Devils. Apparently, he has meddled as a Thanatonaut— I don’t have to tell you that Chen isn’t his real name.”

“And what is his real name?” 

Baekbeom shrugged. “It didn’t say. You know how Guardians are about that stuff.” 

Baekhyun nodded. He did know. It was taboo to discuss your own previous identity before having been reborn, unless you somehow remembered it or had some clue of it on your person. From what he had been told, it was because not every Guardian had a right to a past. Some embraced their identities fully, if they came across them. Others hid them zealously.

He figured it had something to do as well with how gruesome the process to recuperate memories could be for Guardians. They literally had to kill themselves, over and over again. Thanatonauts. Death voyagers. Chen didn’t look like the type, but apparently, he was. 

“Your other friend,” Baekbeom continued. “D.O, the Titan. Also not his real name, but I’m guessing he had some insight on who he was before he was revived. He’s a Striker. Another of those Kingslayers. He’s also a Crucible legend, one of Lord Donghae’s favourites. Before you got to us, he was telling me all about the time D.O got a fifty killing streak. That’s where he met his boyfriend, too.” 

Baekhyun smirked a little. “Let me guess— Kai?”

His brother chuckled. “Yes. Crimson Doubles turned actual lovers. Lord Donghae is really proud of that, too.” 

“What do you have on the kid?”

“Kai is a Sentinel,” Baekbeom answered. “He’s a total poster child for valiant heart and unwavering resolve. He was reborn right before the Taken War, instead focused on the SIVA Crisis with Lord Kyuhyun and got a lot of recognition for that. A regular in the Crucible— he doesn’t look like it, but he’s apparently even more ruthless than D.O. And Kai is definitely not his real name, either. Maybe D.O and he bonded over their past lives?” 

“Maybe.” Baekhyun agreed. “What about Tao?”

Baekbeom made a happy noise. “Now, that one is surprising. His actual name is Zitao Huang, and he just likes the nickname because he finds it cute. And fashion. It’s a known fact. He looked like a total mess when he got here— he’s a Dawnblade. An impressive one, too. Suho and Kris _both_ have him as their protegé of sorts. He’s the Slayer of Skolas, Kell of Kells. The nightmare of the House of Wolves, they say. Literally the reason why the Reef opened their doors to all Guardians again.” 

“The same Tao who cried all the way here slayed the Kell of Kells and has the respect of the Awoken Queen?” Baekhyun questioned, just as awed. “Who knew! I guess being in contact with your emotions isn’t that bad, after all. I should try it.” 

“While you were sleeping, he was still pretty torn up about everything,” Baekbeom informed him. “Sehun, the Hunter, he tried to comfort him for hours— but even he got bored eventually. Sent Tao to sleep even more.”

“Poor Sehun. Which I guess gives me the perfect opening to ask about Sehun.”

Baekbeom laughed. Baekhyun and he had reached the flimsy wooden fence that separated the farm from the countryside, and Baekhyun figured it would need a permanent guard from now on.

“Sehun Oh, he’s called. A Nightstalker,” Baekbeom began. “He’s very new to this Guardian business, he’s maybe been reborn for only a few months. Hasn’t had any notable adventures of his own, just assistance, but he still has called the attention of the Vanguard.” 

“Why’s that?” Baekhyun asked. 

“He has really intense visions, it seems,” Baekbeom answered. “Like, teetering on the verge of Warlock, Guardian Luhan would be jealous, type of visions. Precognition abilities off the charts.” 

Baekhyun leaned on the fence, crossing his arms. He bit his lip in thought, and then looked up at his brother. “Did he… Did he manage to predict the invasion? Or what caused it?” 

Baekbeom levelled the smaller male with a deadpan stare.

“How am I supposed to know that?” He wondered. He put up a ridiculous voice, probably imitating Baekhyun’s own. “Do I just go, ‘oi, Sehun, just read some files you probably don’t even know exist about you, said you could see the future, did you happen to see Cabal totally destroying the Last City or nah’? Really, Baekhyunnie?”

“Okay,” Baekhyun conceded, shaking his head to move his own fringe out of his eyes. “Not the best idea I’ve had.”

“Your best idea was buying me that drink that one time so that I talked to Yeongja,” Baekbeom joked. “It’s been downhill since then.”

Baekhyun had half a mind to kick Baekbeom’s shin, but the elder was faster.

“I’m not done talking!” The man cried out. “I’m missing one Guardian. Your personal favourite, it seems.”

Baekhyun groaned.

“I was dreading this moment,” He declared. There was a pause. Then, he gestured at Baekbeom to go on. “I’ll humour you, though. What about Chanyeol Park?”

Baekbeom’s eye glinted with something playful and curious.

“What _isn’t_ about Chanyeol Park, more like,” He stated. “What a resumé, that Titan. He’s a Sunbreaker. I won’t bore you with details, because frankly it’s very confusing, but he’s the Cleanser of the Black Garden. A literal killer of gods, beginning right there with the Black Heart. Then, because apparently that’s not enough, he went ahead and killed Crota, as in, the Hive god. Crota’s End, they call him.” 

“So I’ve heard.” Baekhyun muttered, attempting to hide that he, too, was impressed.

Baekbeom shook his head.

“So you’ve heard.” He echoed. “So you must’ve heard, then, how he’s the sole reason King Oryx came to our system and brought the Taken along with him. He literally wanted revenge on Chanyeol and no one else, and nearly wiped out the Awoken and Cabal and _everyone_ on that path. And Chanyeol just took his fireteam and killed him, too. Kingslayer. Although, by this point, that’s three gods— we should call him Godslayer.”

“He doesn’t look like a Godslayer.” Baekhyun retorted. 

“What do you even know about what Godslayers look like?” Baekbeom wondered. He then dug into the pockets of his pants and pulled out a thin pencil-like device. He offered to Baekhyun. Baekhyun took the closed tablet back.

“I know they’re probably not that afraid of death.” Baekhyun replied, but it sounded bratty even to his own ears.

“Oh, please. Even you’re afraid of death.”

Baekhyun wished he wasn’t.

It was approaching midnight. 

Baekhyun had flocked through the whole camp introducing himself and meeting everyone he didn’t know, while greeting everyone he did know warmly. He had helped with organising their sleeping quarters as much as he could, and in the end, it had been decided that those who had travelled with Baekhyun would stay in Baekbeom’s home. The house had enough room to accommodate them, even if it was in bunk beds and cots. No one complained, either.

They shared a late dinner— Baekhyun, his brother, his wife, and the rag tag adopted Guardians. Everyone was incredibly tired, it seemed, and quiet. The scavenger didn’t do well with prolonged silence, and he pushed conversation and jokes constantly, to the point he found himself annoying and hyperactive. 

The Guardians –and their Ghosts— though, in their own ways, seemed to appreciate it. They had wonderful laughs, or maybe Baekhyun was just dying for their validation and it seemed wonderful to him. No one was very loud, but he thought he had a better grasp of their personalities by the end of it.

D.O was strong, sure, and maybe hot-headed, but most of all, he was a nervous wreck. Chen was playful, and kind, and very reflexive. Sehun only seemed quiet but was perhaps the most mischievous out of them. Tao was incredibly sweet, maybe a bit childish. Kai was easy-going, with a simmering intensity to him.

And Chanyeol— well, Chanyeol was his personal favourite. Baekbeom had been right. 

He was awkward, sweet, funny in an innocent way. Clearly smarter than he seemed, and a natural leader. Capable of confidence. Nothing that screamed Cleanser of the Black Gardens, Crota’s End, Kingslayer, or Godslayer. He was a hero by all means and wasn’t afraid of acknowledging it. Yet somehow, to Baekhyun, it was easy to forget it, and just tease Chanyeol in some way or other during dinner, who would take it good-naturedly.

It was dangerous business, he reckoned.

“So, I think it might be time to sleep.” Baekhyun suggested, as soon as the thought crossed his mind.

“It’s been a long day,” Baekbeom concurred, without sensing his brother’s sudden agitation. “You all must be really tired.” 

“I’ve been sleeping all day.” Tao declared.

D.O huffed, leaning his body against Kai’s shoulder. “Not all of us have been so lucky.”

“All you did today was cry and sleep,” Sehun stated, with a small smirk, though it wasn’t cruel. It still made Tao blush, and hide his face with his hands. “It’s easy not being tired if you do that.”

Tao was quick to defend himself. “What was I supposed to do? I’m scared, and I’m sad, and I’m worried, and those are feelings that would make anyone cry. There are a million reasons I wouldn’t be able to sleep, anyway, if I start thinking.”

“So don’t think.” Chanyeol advised. Tao sighed with annoyance.

“Easier said than done.” The Warlock mumbled. Baekhyun couldn’t help but to copy him, it sounded so kid-like to him.

“Easier said than done!” He parroted, making Tao blush further and the group laugh.

Yeongja protested, “Don’t be mean to Tao! I know for a fact you’re all feeling the same way he is. He’s brave enough to admit it, aren’t you, Tao?” 

“I am.” Tao agreed proudly.

“Nobody will sleep if we keep thinking about what happened and how we feel about it, I think,” Kai commented. “I know I’m terrified, but… What can we possibly do right now about that?” 

Chen hummed in agreement. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this scared before, either. Or this hopeless.”

The atmosphere in the dining room was already starting to get depressing again. Baekhyun gnawed at his lip in annoyance at it— he had had enough of sadness, really. Thankfully, Baekbeom stepped in, snapping his fingers to signal he had an idea. 

“When Baekhyunnie was a kid, our parents had to travel quite a bit,” He relayed. “I’d tell him a story every night so he would fall asleep thinking about that story, instead of worrying about our parents.” 

Baekhyun started sinking in his chair. He knew where this was going. 

“His favourite stories were the ones about Guardians, of course.”

There it was. Six pairs of eyes turned to him, delighted. Baekhyun groaned. 

“Oh, really, Guardian tales?” Chanyeol repeated, mirth shining in his eyes. There it was, that damned dimple, too. Baekhyun levelled him with a glare.

“Yes, Guardian tales. Back before I knew how uncool all of you actually were, I actually liked them.” Baekhyun shot back. 

“I have to admit, I don’t know that many.” D.O said.

“Now I wanna know your favourite one, Baekhyunnie.” Chen teased, with a cat-like grin. Baekhyun rolled his eyes, but Baekbeom piped in for him. 

“That’s the one about Shin Malphur. Baekhyun’s a fan.” His brother revealed, and never had Baekhyun felt so betrayed.

“I have never felt so betrayed.” He announced, for good measure.

“Do any of you know that one?” Baekbeom asked, ignoring his younger sibling.

There was an echo of denials across the table, and really, even if Baekhyun felt embarrassed, this made him sit up straight once more. How could any of them _not_ know about Shin Malphur and his Golden Gun? Really?

“Not even Sehun knows about it?” Baekhyun wondered with disbelief, and Sehun frowned at him.

“Why would I?”

“Because!” Baekhyun nearly yelled. “It’s the most legendary showdown between Guardians there has ever been. Every Hunter Gunslinger dreams they could be as quick to the draw as Shin Malphur. There’s no more epic tale out there. He _invented_ the Golden Gun. _My own gun_ is modelled after the Golden Gun, that’s how awesome it is!”

Chen gasped. “Oh yeah! Pepper mentioned something about that.” 

“I wanna know this story!” Tao exclaimed excitedly. “It sounds really cool!”

“It is,” Baekhyun confirmed. “Beom, please tell it to these heathens.”

Baekbeom chuckled with amusement. “You know it better than me, by now. If I tell it, you’ll just interrupt me the whole time I get a detail wrong.”

Baekhyun hesitated. “I—”

“Please, Baekhyun!” Tao begged. “It’s the only way I’ll sleep!”

“We could all use a bedtime story,” Chanyeol added. “Besides. You have a nice voice.”

Baekhyun raised his eyebrows at him. When Kai and Sehun, sitting on both sides of Chanyeol, began to tease him, the tall Titan flushed a pretty red which contrasted nicely with his platinum hair, but he didn’t deny it. 

“What? He does! You do, Baekhyun.” Chanyeol repeated. “Will you tell us the story?” 

Baekhyun stared at Chanyeol until he sensed the Titan beginning to get nervous, shifting in his seat, among the laughter of the others. 

“Fine,” He finally allowed, feeling and sounding smug. “Only because you asked so nicely.” 

He made a show of clearing his throat dramatically, and surprisingly, the Guardians all turned their chairs as if to be able to listen to him better, quieting down and joking silently with each other to shut up. 

“Many centuries ago, in the town of Palamon, hidden in the wooded mountains somewhere between here and the Last City, a little boy was born,” Baekhyun began with the most powerful and theatrical voice he could. “His name was Shin Malphur.” 

Sehun and Kai made long ‘oh’ sounds, and Chen laughed loudly. No matter. Tao already looked enthralled, and Chanyeol seemed to be listening attentively. Really, that was Baekhyun’s target audience.

“Shin had always been special. He was an orphan, who’d lost his parents to the Fallen and could only remember their souls as a small spark of light. He’d dream, sometimes, about moving on to the City, but no one had the courage to brave out the harsh winters. They were hidden from the world, in Palamon. Nobody wanted to risk it, but at least many travellers passed through.” 

Baekhyun leaned in over the table, taking a pause to build suspense.

“One day,” He continued, “One such traveller called Jaren Ward came. And he had a Ghost. He was a Guardian, a Hunter, with a beautiful revolver known as The Last Word, and Shin became mesmerised just— imagining every adventure Jaren had had while wielding it. Jaren noticed, and he let Shin hold The Last Word. He befriended Shin, and he decided to stay with him in Palamon.”

Baekhyun’s expression filled with uneasiness. “But Palamon was ruled by a corrupt man, called Loken, who hated Jaren. He let the Guardian dwell for a bit, but soon, he angered Loken, who decided to execute him in the courtyard, where everyone –including Shin— could see.”

Tao gasped softly. The scavenger took a moment to look around, assessing the Guardians’ expressions. They all had different levels of interest in their faces, but they were all watching him.

“Shin begged his adoptive father that he intervened, that he didn’t allow Loken to kill Jaren. His father didn’t really do anything, and at first, Shin couldn’t understand why the townspeople would allow a good man, a hero, like Jaren, die like a dog.” Baekhyun knocked on the wooden table gently. “But one look at Jaren, and he saw what they saw as well.”

“Faster than lightning!” Baekhyun drew out the Ace of Spades from his hip, as quickly as he could, and with how even D.O jumped, he knew he had succeeded with the effect. He stared down at the Titan on the end of his cannon with a very faint smirk. “Jaren drew out The Last Word and killed Loken. And just like that, he freed Palamon from tyranny.”

D.O swallowed, as subtly as possible. Baekhyun lowered the hand cannon, leaving in on the table. He took a deep breath.

“And for the next years, as Shin grew, Jaren and the hunters of Palamon protected the town. All was well.” Baekhyun declared. “Until one day, Jaren and the hunters had to leave to track down a few Fallen. While the Guardian was gone, a new man arrived to Palamon— and his name is synonym with terror, with destruction, with devastation. His name was Dredgen Yor.” 

Chen’s eyes shone with recognition at the name, and he nudged Chanyeol, mouthing the word ‘the shadows’ when the Titan looked at him. Chanyeol nodded, understanding.

“Dredgen was a Guardian, too, you see. A Titan, just like some of you,” Baekhyun explained. “But he was cursed, overtaken by Darkness. He fashioned himself a gun of his own called Thorn, which could even kill Guardians with a single bullet, consuming their Light. Even Dredgen Yor’s Ghost abandoned him, but he didn’t care— he just hungered for the Light of other Guardians.” 

Baekhyun pondered this privately, looking down at his hands. Then, he locked eyes with Kai, who froze like a rabbit under his intense gaze.

“Yor massacred all of Palamon,” Baekhyun declared, Tao gasping once more, letting out a soft ‘no’. “He left no one. No one but Shin himself, who was left alone in the smoke and the ashes Yor left. He had no choice but to wait for Jaren’s return, and when he did, the hunters and the two of them decided to follow Yor’s trail of destruction so they could avenge their home and stop his rampage. But it would take them years to find them, and when they did, Yor gunned them down easily, like they were sitting ducks.” 

Baekhyun sighed. “Shin was scared. But Jaren was his mentor, and he trusted him. One day, though, Jaren scouted ahead of the rest of the group. That night, Shin heard a shootout of The Last Word and Thorn, entangled— and then silence.”

“Who won?” Sehun asked in almost a whisper. Baekhyun shook his head.

“Shin waited, and waited, and waited for Jaren to return, all on his own. In the end, only Jaren’s Ghost arrived, with The Last Word.” Baekhyun couldn’t help but to smile softly. It was his favourite part of the story, after all, however grim it was. “The Ghost then scanned Shin and revealed to him what Jaren had always known— Shin was blessed by the Light. He was a Guardian, too.”

It was a twist. The only Guardian who had never died. Born in the Light from the very start. These Guardians were just as shocked as he had been the first time, Tao unabashedly gaping.

“And so Shin kept chasing Yor, determined to avenge Jaren, his friends, and Palamon. He found him in a place they called Dwindler’s Ridge. Dredgen Yor revealed he had been the one to give The Last Word to Jaren’s Ghost as a gift for Shin himself. Dredgen spoke and spoke,” Baekhyun slowly made a grab for his Ace of Spades once more, this time aiming it at Chanyeol, who tensed. “And Shin just felt rage grow within him.”

He mimicked shooting Chanyeol twice. “Bang, bang. The Last Word unleashed two shots, and Shin’s Light enhanced them into the Golden Gun we all know and love. Dredgen Yor fell to the ground, dead, with no time to reply with his Thorn. And so, Dredgen Yor’s reign of terror was finished, while Shin Malphur felt only sadness at all he had lost because of him. He vowed he would never allow his legacy to continue.”

Baekhyun let the Ace of Spades down once more, and he grinned at Tao. “They say that even today, Shin Malphur travels through the Sol system, looking for whoever still follows Dredgen Yor’s path of Darkness. And who knows— maybe one day, you’ll get to meet him.”

Feeling suddenly awkward, Baekhyun broke the enraptured aura he had managed by doing jazz hands. “The end!” He claimed cheerily.

Tao shuddered.

“Wow,” He said. “That was really good. Right until the end— it was kind of anti-climactic, to be honest.”

“That’s the thing with real life stories, kiddo,” Baekhyun answered. “They’re very anti-climactic. Now how about we sleep?”

It took hours for Baekhyun to be even be able to really sleep. He was racked with guilt, and he thought maybe hours of research into Jongok’s intelligence logs would help him. It did not, but it served the purpose of tiring him out.

With sleepy eyes, he watched as the sky turned clearer slowly. The story didn’t end there, Tao, he imagined himself telling the Warlock instead. His last thought before exhaustion overtook him once more was who did he resemble more— was it Shin Malphur and his twisted justice? Or was it Dredgen Yor’s despair?

It was approaching sunrise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope things have more shape as we move along. See you on the next one, and please leave any comment, suggestion, or idea you have :) I changed a small continuity error on the first chapter. Nothing major.


	3. draw from the void and light the way

**iii. draw from the void and light the way**

****

**** ****

There was a pool of stagnant water in the woods by Baekbeom’s house.

Baekhyun often passed by it when searching for wild berries or game, which was now every day. Reflected upon it.

It couldn’t be helped. He had only spent a few days in the farm, but as Baekhyun settled into a new routine of strange domesticity and resignation, it started feeling more like a prison than a home.

The flow of people looking for a place to stay had begun to dwindle after a couple of suns, which was both worrying and a relief. Worrying, because there weren’t much other places to turn to and they could hardly account for the whole of the Last City’s population. A relief, because they were starting to run out of space and ways to accommodate everyone. It was only a tiny village, after all.

Taeyeon and Tiffany had welcomed the BLACKPINK fireteam into their home happily— four girls who went by the names of Lisa, Jisoo, Rosé, and Jennie, who seemed to be Kai’s friend. They were resilient and strong, which Taeyeon and Tiffany both could appreciate. They had room enough left to invite Guardian CL, Lord Donghae, and Cryptarch BoA, but in the end, only CL and Donghae had accepted as well. BoA, on the other hand, had taken residence in a little cabin no one had claimed before her instead, choosing to stay on her own.

Hodong, upon being reunited with one of his favourite customers in Guardian Heechul, had urged the Hunter to take over another of the abandoned homes with him, despite its ruined state. During their first night together, they had crafted a very specific broadcast, it seemed, because over the course of the next few hours, Baekhyun had been pleasantly surprised to find the other regulars and employees of Hodong’s bar –Sugeun, Kyunghoon, Sangmin, Janghoon, and Youngchul— finding the farm to stay with them. And so, Hodong’s new makeshift home became Hodong’s new makeshift bar, which in turn made everything livelier.

RM had, initially, come to live in the EDZ for the solitude it offered him. Baekhyun was astonished to see him easily receive Jimin and J-Hope into his property, and even more so to see the trio become quick friends. When two newly arrived girls, Nana and Bom, came into the farm, RM also allowed them to remain in his house. It was a refreshing side to see of their lone wolf.

The Byun household was terribly overcrowded. It turned out that ten people –one of them being a toddler— all sharing one space could be a little overwhelming, who knew? Baekhyun had never had to fight so much for a chance to use his own restroom. He had been forced to share a shower with Tao more times than he’d care to admit at this point.

There were plenty of tasks to be done across the farm, around the clock. Whether it was house chores, tending to the animals and crops, fixing up their ships and sparrows, tinkering with their armours and weapons, getting firewood, hunting, monitoring radio transmissions, or even sparring among themselves, it seemed like there wasn’t a single dull moment.

Yet Baekhyun felt unnerved.

He knew, logically, it was safe to remain like this. There was not much of a point in thinking in retaliation against the Cabal when there was no unified Vanguard, let alone a Guardian front. Lord Donghae was a well-respected Titan, but he wasn’t that kind of leader— hadn’t been for a long time. Every other Guardian of some sort of renown –Heechul, Janghoon, CL, BoA, even the likes of Chanyeol— had never been in the position of having to make the next call, and they were all individually stalling.

It disappointed Baekhyun, nonetheless. In a secret part of his withering soul, he had been hoping that the Guardians, in true Guardian fashion, would come up with a ludicrous and unrealistic plan that had no way of working and made it work, and that it somehow resulted in them retaking the Last City, defeating the Red Legion, and getting back the Light, all in one swift move.

He had expected heroism from them. He hadn’t expected them to adapt to a life in the countryside in such an ordinary yet fatalistic manner.

They were running out of time. _He_ was running out of time.

Baekhyun could hardly say he had been fighting back against their self-imposed schedules, though.

Every morning, he’d get up at sunrise no matter how much sleep he had managed to get the night before. Almost mechanically, he would walk up to the dirty full-body mirror that had been in the room, untouched, when Baekbeom and he had found the house. Once in front of it, Baekhyun would examine himself thoroughly, scrutinising his body, his face, his hair, his eyes— looking for what, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that the tiny, black dots in his irises could become fascinating. Once he felt the other occupants of the house stir, he would join them for breakfast and showers and banter.

Banter was easy for Baekhyun.

His days were easy, too. The stench of death seemed to be stuck to the Häkke Vimana no matter how much he aired it out— it was fitting. Babysitting Taehyung was a delight, especially when he got to hang out with Taeyeon and play house, as far as that was from happening nowadays. He would review Jongok’s intelligence logs for any sort of new information and shared whatever he found interesting with Baekbeom.

His brother would casually suggest that Baekhyun would take it up with one of the Guardians. Baekhyun hadn’t really dared to do that.

Instead, his approach to the subject consisted of chatting them up, whenever they were available, and dropping not-so-subtle hints of what he reckoned they were supposed to be doing instead of loitering around his brother’s farm. There had been mixed reactions to this.

Chen was the most responsive of them all, seemingly eager to move on. The Warlock confided in Baekhyun about how concerned he was about Guardian Xiumin— his mentor, Chen called him. Baekhyun would suggest he was his crush, too, with how Chen talked of Xiumin as he had hung the moon and stars himself. The brunet hadn’t been able to reach the other Warlock by any of their usual means of communication, and he was at a wit’s end of where Xiumin could possibly be. It was this, in the end, what paralysed him— not knowing where to even start. He refused to entertain the possibility that Xiumin was dead.

D.O was complicated. Baekhyun was certain the Titan had reverted to be wary of the scavenger after their chat in the kitchen. Often times, he would find the other watching him like a hawk. Other times, it was as if D.O wanted to trust Baekhyun more than he could. Regardless of it, their relationship was strained with something akin to rivalry. Kai, unfortunately, seemed just as unsure about Baekhyun as his boyfriend— perhaps due to the other Titan's influence, rather than something he thought himself. It made Baekhyun hate puppy love.

Tao was almost too sweet, Baekhyun would find. The Warlock –although Baekhyun couldn’t stop thinking of him as a boy— clung to the grey-haired man easily, begging him for bedtime stories and cuddles despite them hardly knowing each other. Baekhyun teased him effortlessly, and although Tao acted offended most of the time, he would always come back. It was like pushing away a kitten who kept purring. The slayer of Fallen, killer of the Kell of Kells, destroyer of the House of Wolves, had vanished along with the Light, leaving only Tao, the child, in its wake. He had no qualms about staying right where they were.

Sehun’s attention was hard to catch. Most of the time, he was immersed in his own head. Baekhyun could only engage him with a few jokes, but the Hunter was preoccupied with other things. More than once, Baekhyun had found Sehun staring into the horizon, eyes glued to the Shard of the Traveller, deep in his introspection. He never shared his reflections with Baekhyun, though, no matter how much he asked.

Chanyeol was always saved for last. He provoked Baekhyun in ways that felt ill-timed, and the scavenger cursed their situation almost instinctively.

As the only one to have had faced the Dominus, the Titan had been taking their defeat harder than all of the others. It resulted on him being moody and rude in some occasions, without much prompting, to anyone who was unlucky enough to be within the vicinity. However, if it was just that, maybe Baekhyun would have been able to cope with him more easily.

No— what truly got to Baekhyun was how kind Chanyeol could be to him. How he would apologise after insulting him, unintentionally or not, looking like a sad blond puppy with almond-shaped eyes. How they could actually talk about literally anything else but their future with an ease and chemistry Baekhyun hadn’t ever felt with anyone. How awkward and down-to-earth the Guardian was, despite being one of the most accomplished of them all— a Godslayer, as Baekbeom said. How intensely he watched Baekhyun when he thought the scavenger wasn’t looking.

It gave Baekhyun _feelings_. This was not the place nor the moment for _feelings._ And so, Baekhyun resorted to avoiding Chanyeol as much as he could. It was easy. He had the inkling Chanyeol was attempting to evade him as well, yet they gravitated towards each other just the same.

What wasn’t easy was to hide his growing contempt with the farm. Most nights, Baekhyun’s feet would lead him into Hodong’s bar, trying to wind down with bad drinks and good laughs with the people he had dared to call friends. It never really did help.

Like clockwork, too, once he was certain everyone in his house was asleep, Baekhyun would sneak into the kitchen to use the radio.

He called Kris almost five times every night. Not once did Kris answer. With a heavy heart, Baekhyun would retire to his room once more, to do it all over again the next day.

Almost a fortnight was spent like this, before Baekhyun’s metaphorical thread unfurled all at once, with the imperative need to walk into the forest and be on his own that he recognised as foreign within him.

“We need wood.” RM announced to Yeongja as the sun began to set, in the kitchen of her house as D.O fed Taehyung silently. The Titan seemed to have an undiscovered ease with children that he exploited with Baekhyun's adorable nephew. “I don’t think we have enough for all of us, but it’s too late to get to chopping.”

“So just get some branches.” Yeongja suggested, as she herself wiped the counter, more than happy than to delegate motherhood’s most boring tasks on other people. “It’s only for one night, after all. We can always use some fuel to keep the fireplaces going.”

“It’s gonna take a lot of branches.” RM countered with an arched eyebrow. Baekhyun recognised an opportunity when he saw one.

He raised his hand as if he were a schoolboy.

“Namjoon, I’ll do it for you.” Baekhyun proposed, the words stumbling out of him impulsively. RM frowned, probably confused at the use of his given name. “You’ve been working really hard all day. I’ve been itching to do anything, and I could use the alone time.”

He could feel D.O’s eyes on him. He had an urge to tell the Guardian to shove it and mind his own business, but there was no way D.O knew, anyway. Suspect him, maybe. And that was Baekhyun’s own fault.

“Okay,” RM replied slowly. “It’s not like I’m gonna complain. But I think this is the longest you’ve ever been in the farm, isn’t it? Do you know your way around the woods? I don’t want you to get lost in the dark…”

Baekhyun waved him off, blowing a raspberry. “Of course I do! I scouted this spot in the first place. You wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for me, if you really think about it.”

“That was years ago.” RM deadpanned.

Baekhyun bristled. “You’re doing a lot of complaining, for someone who said that he wouldn’t. Let me do this.”

“You can go, Baekhyunnie,” Yeongja conceded instead. “Namjoon’s right, though. Don’t take too long before it gets dark. We never know what’s lurking outside.”

Baekhyun nodded vigorously. “I’ll be the very picture of caution. Trust me.”

Without giving anyone a second glance, lest he lost his own spunk, Baekhyun practically ran out of the house. He decided to follow the path down the small river around the farm, into the forest, waving at those who saw so he didn’t raise any suspicions. He locked eyes with Chanyeol, who had been right by the hangar. Fearing he was revealing something without even meaning to, Baekhyun just looked away.

There was a pool of stagnant water in the woods by Baekbeom’s house. It was a good fifteen minutes into the expanse of trees. Away from any prying eyes, from any curious ears. Baekhyun knew he was all alone, unable to even hear birds or small critters, and his hand hovered over his cannon, as if expecting for a Guardian to sneak up on him.

The silence was a good sign, at least. Or more like, _a_ sign— Baekhyun couldn’t decide if it was truly good.

He called out, as if talking to someone right in front of him. “I’m here.”

A pause. Then, Baekhyun spoke again. “Are you here?”

By now, Baekhyun knew to wait. Knew that he wouldn’t immediately –or even necessarily— get any answer. And for what had to be at least five minutes, Baekhyun didn’t hear anything at all. 

“They’re waiting for me.” Baekhyun insisted, growing impatient. When he still got nothing, he decided he did need to collect some branches. The light of twilight wouldn’t last him very long.

And then—

 **I am here.**

Baekhyun nearly fell over at the pressure that came from everywhere all at once. Trying to squash him like a bug. He took a huge gulp of breath, as if choking. He sort of was.

**I am always here.**

“You take so long to pick up the phone, though,” Baekhyun quipped, breathless. There was a hum in his ears, ominous and all-seeing. “Sometimes I don’t know if you are watching or not.”

**There is nothing but watching.**

**There is nothing but waiting.**

Baekhyun licked his lips, dry like a desert. “And what have you seen?”

**I have seen the mistakes that we have made.**

**Our punishments shall be plentiful.**

**The Almighty is here.**

Baekhyun’s head begun to pound, slowly, and he found himself taking a seat unceremoniously on the forest’s bed. He pulled the hood of his poncho over his eyes, closing them tightly. This was painful. Too painful.

“What is an almighty?” He growled out, gritting his teeth. “I know this was all a mistake— but will it at least be worth it?”

**No.**

“Oh, fuck you.” Baekhyun didn’t realise the insult was out of his mouth until it was too late. The pain in his head worsened, the pressure more intense than before. “Stop that, I got it, I’m sorry!”

**Your work is not yet done.**

**I have not liberated you, and you have not liberated me.**

**You must come here.**

**You must help me.**

**You must save me, and so, I will save you.**

**Respect your end of our agreement.**

**Give yourself to me.**

“Haven’t I given you enough?” Baekhyun asked. His face felt warm, and not in a pleasant way. “I gave you— I gave you _lives_. A way to understand it. I gave you _a way in_.”

**I gave you the power you craved so very deeply in your heart.**

**I gave you a way to overcome your weaknesses.**

**You are but a mortal child.**

**You are still under my call and beckon.**

**It will all be for naught if you do not come, and your sacrifice will be void.**

**Someone is here.**

“Baekhyun?”

The scavenger turned his upper body quickly, the pressure and the thrumming gone now, as if they had never been there to begin with. He found Chanyeol and his Ghost, the Titan’s eyes widening upon seeing Baekhyun’s face.

“Baekhyun!” He called in alarm, rushing over and kneeling by Baekhyun’s side, a hand immediately on the scavenger’s head. “What happened to you?!”

Baekhyun swatted the hand away, face feeling warm once more. Out of confusion, most likely. “What do you mean? I’m fine.” 

Chanyeol looked terribly worried. Baekhyun thought absently that the frown on his face had no right to make him seem more attractive still.

“You’re bleeding.” Chanyeol informed him, the concern lacing into his deep voice.

Baekhyun startled at that. He looked down at his body, touching it all over, checking for injuries, but found none. Very gently, Chanyeol grabbed both of Baekhyun’s hands, stopping him.

“No, no,” Chanyeol said. “You’re bleeding from your nose a lot.”

Baekhyun, licked his upper lip. Tasted the tell-tale metallic tang of blood. _Oh._

“Oh.” He repeated aloud.

“And you’re just sitting here on the ground,” Chanyeol continued. “Just… Literally just sitting here. Looking out of it. I thought I heard you talking to someone, too.”

“There’s nobody here.” Baekhyun retorted, a bit too quickly, searching for any scepticism in Chanyeol’s eyes. The Titan, however, seemed more preoccupied with Baekhyun’s state. Baekhyun looked around the forest, and he blurted out: “A deer attacked me.” 

Chanyeol frowned at Baekhyun.

“A deer attacked you?” Toben repeated with incredulity.

Baekhyun nodded. Once he had a falsehood, it was easy to roll with it, as flimsy as it was. “I startled it. It charged at me. It hit me right on the face with one of its antlers and then escaped.”

Chanyeol opened his mouth. Closed it. Then opened it again. He resembled a fish, and Baekhyun then realised he had also said _that_ aloud, when the blond blushed.

“I’m just trying to picture it that, okay?” He defended himself. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a deer do anything that wasn’t… Running away.”

“They can be very aggressive,” Baekhyun asserted. “When they’re young bucks, especially.”

It was a bad lie. A horrible one, in fact. Young bucks weren’t even in rutting season. If Chanyeol had prodded just a little bit more, Baekhyun would have probably confessed to everything there was to confess, as light-headed as he felt after such a communion. 

It was Toben who shockingly spared the scavenger.

“We should get him back, Chanyeol,” The Ghost suggested softly. “It’s going to be really dark soon, and we’re gonna come up on the one-hour mark.” 

“Wait, what?” Baekhyun questioned. “Has it really been that long?”

Chanyeol nodded slowly. “I saw you leave. About half an hour into it, I started to get worried. D.O told me you were getting some branches, so we came looking for you… You went very far in, to be honest.” 

Then, Chanyeol let go of one of Baekhyun’s hands— Baekhyun hadn’t even realised he was still holding them. They were both wearing gloves. Baekhyun found himself wishing they hadn’t been, but he stomped on that thought as soon as it intended to become fully formed.

The Titan pulled on Baekhyun’s poncho’s collar and wiped the grey-haired man’s nose with it. He looked apologetic, as Baekhyun gawked at him in offense.

“I have nothing else to clean you with, I’m sorry.” Chanyeol said, not sounding actually sorry. “I think you’ve stopped bleeding, at least. Does your nose hurt? Do you think it’s broken?” 

The Guardian stood up then, bringing Baekhyun along with him, pulling on the hand he still hadn’t let go of. He took his free arm to Baekhyun’s waist, to stabilise him as he straightened. The touch was gone as soon as the scavenger was totally up. Baekhyun shook his head, messing with his hair.

“It’s not broken, but my poncho now has blood on it.” Baekhyun sulked, pouting.

“Now you have an excuse to wash that thing,” Chanyeol joked, and Baekhyun hit his arm in a heartbeat. “Ow! Hey! I came here to help you! Don’t hit me!”

Baekhyun’s mind slowly began to clear as they walked back to the farm. Toben was right— he could hardly see now, as the shadows of the night took over instead. Toben lit up like a small lantern for them. Baekhyun began to grab whatever branch he saw, as an attempt to make up for the lost time, so RM and Yeongja wouldn’t question him.

It –time— worked so strangely when he talked to— them. It. Whatever it was supposed to be.

“So if a deer hit you,” Chanyeol began casually. “How come you were talking to someone?”

The man knew he couldn’t really have expected the Titan to just let it pass, after all. He cursed himself silently anyway.

“I don’t remember.” Baekhyun answered, sounding as uninteresting as he possibly could. “Maybe I was a little bit stunned. Talked to myself. I do that.” 

“You do?”

“I spend a lot of time on my own. Whenever I’m on the job and shit.” Baekhyun explained. That part wasn’t a lie, at least. “It can get pretty lonely.”

“Right, right.” Chanyeol, thankfully, humoured him and didn't press further. Instead, he asked: “What does your job exactly… Entail? Lord Donghae said you were a collector, but you said you were a _scavenger_.”

Baekhyun chuckled. “You remember that? It was a while ago.”

“I remember everything you say.” Chanyeol replied, seemingly out of impulse. Ducked his head, suddenly embarrassed. If Toben had a face, Baekhyun was certain the Ghost would be smirking or fuming or both, with how he resolutely looked ahead as he floated besides them. “I— I have a good memory, I mean.”

The desire to tease Chanyeol was great, but Baekhyun decided that if the Titan was cutting him some slack by not interrogating him, he could return the favour.

“Collector is the official job title, I suppose,” He acknowledged. “My family has been doing the same thing for generations. We collect things— for anyone who asks, from anywhere they ask. But my grandparents always thought –and I totally agreed— that we were more like scavengers, than something as clean and simple as just _collectors_. So I always liked that better, you know? My grandma used to call me her little skulking fox.”

Chanyeol made a face, half-laughter, half-cringe. Baekhyun snickered. “Yeah. Not the cutest pet name, I know. But she was a bit crazy. And I liked it.” 

“Well,” Chanyeol answered, “I guess that if the Vanguard has you actually fetching corpses, I guess scavenger is a more fitting term, it’s true.”

Baekhyun snickered. “It’s not the weirdest thing I’ve had to fetch, either.”

“It’s the family business, then?” Chanyeol asked, bumping his arm with Baekhyun’s shoulder. “Collecting things. Scavenging.”

Baekhyun hummed and nodded. “Yeah. I can’t imagine myself doing anything else, even if I wanted to. Especially since I’m the only one left.” 

“I’m glad you enjoy it,” Chanyeol stated. “But aren’t there any other people who do the same thing as you? Baekbeom…?”

Baekhyun shook his head. Grabbed a branch from the ground. At the mention of his brother, he sighed wistfully.

“I mean, there are other people, sure,” Baekhyun acquiesced. “I’ve worked with them, even. But the Byuns— we’ve been around forever. And we don’t do it for the money. We do it out of duty. It’s our thing. It’s _my_ thing.”

He paused, struggling to find the right words. It was Baekbeom’s story to tell, after all.

“Baekbeom never really liked what we do. My parents didn’t, either,” Baekhyun admitted and left it at that. “But they all did what they had to out of our mission to the Last City and our family. Once they had the chance to get out, they did. And now it’s just me.” 

Chanyeol nodded, listening intently. Baekhyun didn’t really remember the last time he had said this to anyone. Mostly, people either knew the story or didn’t care about it. It was strange, having someone to share it with. 

“Who knows,” Chanyeol started when Baekhyun felt silent, rubbing his nape, perhaps trying to cheer Baekhyun up. “Maybe Taehyung will decide to follow in your footsteps, right?”

Baekhyun grew a bit more sombre at that. “Even if Baekbeom and Yeongja allowed it, what footsteps are you talking about? There’s no City left to help out. And how much of that is our fault?” He concluded more quietly.

Neither Chanyeol nor Toben added anything else. The rest of the way back was spent in silence, although it wasn’t uncomfortable— it was merely reflexive. Baekhyun focused on picking up whatever wood he could find, and slowly, he felt slightly better, no longer suffering from anything but a mild headache.

As soon as they reached the farm’s limits –and other people— Chanyeol leaned in close to Baekhyun, mumbling into his ear.

“You know I don’t believe your deer story for a second, right?” The Titan told him. Baekhyun nodded.

“It was one of my lowest moments.” Baekhyun admitted. 

“Are you going to tell me what really happened?” The Titan asked.

“No,” Baekhyun answered, almost mischievous. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention anything to anyone, too. Keep our precarious domestic balance intact.”

Once more, Chanyeol stayed silent. Baekhyun decided to take it as an agreement and stalked forward so he could give the branches to RM and Yeongja, and hopefully wash up without anyone noticing he had been bleeding.

Complaining of some head pain vaguely was enough to escape dinner that night, even if Baekbeom shot him a worried look. Baekhyun hardly felt like eating anything, anyway. 

Locking himself up in his room to avoid Chanyeol would be childish in any other context, Baekhyun figured, but as it was, he felt exposed. Chanyeol had _seen_ him, after all. He hadn’t understood what was happening, it seemed, and neither had Toben— however, the sole possibility that they put two in two together was enough to scare Baekhyun.

Not to mention he had orders, now.

He fetched his datapad from his nightstand, logging automatically into the intelligence records Jongok and her Hidden so painstakingly worked on. There hadn’t been much updates in the couple of weeks since he had been in the EDZ, including his very own, letting in the other spies in the system on his brother’s farm— before that, he had written about the Taken in Old America, speculating about their return, the same night of the Cabal invasion.

No, there wasn’t much to see. Nothing more than what he had already seen, which was much confusion, and much silence from Jongok herself. The Warlock Vanguard had made herself way too scarce after the City’s Fall. Baekhyun expected no less.

Just as Baekhyun was about to close the application with a sigh, there was an update. Baekhyun jumped, startled at the sudden change in his tablet’s screen, but immediately touched the notification.

_ACCESS: RESTRICTED_

_DECRYPTION KEY: 73XK5V2PG1$BBH-659_

_REP #: 059-RED-GHA_

_AGENT(S): LAY-711_

_SUBJ: What a last couple of weeks!_

_1\. First of all, let me start by saying that I hope that, wherever you are scattered through the system, you are alive and well, my dearest colleagues._

Baekhyun smiled despite himself. Guardian Lay was always a sweetheart.

_2\. Second of all, I want to let you know that I myself am very good. I have been working closely with VIP #2205 to understand what exactly has hit us, and he has proven to be an outstanding leader (not that we didn’t know that already, right?). Consider this my nomination of VIP #2205 as new Vanguard Titan. He’s been around long enough. The loss of VIP #SOO is great, but we must move on in these trying times._

_Along with some other Guardians, we are currently making camp in the abandoned Dreadnaught. The Hull Breach is almost serene, when it’s not crawling with Taken and Hive. It’s very cold, too. I’m currently typing this in secret as everyone else sleeps, and I feel like my fingers might fall off._

_We are making our way to Titan, hoping there is something in its Golden Age cities that may be able to help us. VIP #2205 thinks we can begin to plan a counteroffensive there, and I have no reason to disagree. I will share more information about this initiative when I have it._

_3\. The loss of our Light has forced us to face our mortality, and I will admit that some of us have taken it better than others. Tempers are flaring; however, VIP #2205 has done his best to appease us all. Nevertheless, we are extremely worried over the lack of contact we have had with the remaining members of the Vanguard. So, BAE-006, if you’re reading this, please be sure to shoot us a message. If anyone else knows where she is, let us know._

_On regards to the Hunter Vanguard, it has come to my attention that our own VIP #SUN decided to Dare WU-611 in the middle of the invasion to take up on the Vanguard’s command. I have heard better ideas._

Baekhyun couldn’t help but to roll his eyes. Lay and he could agree on that. 

_Regardless, what is done is done. WU-611, if you are reading this, **definitely** shoot us a message. We’ll talk about the conflicts of interest of being Vanguard and Hidden at the same time when we are in the same room with BAE-006. If anyone can locate either our agent or the VIP #SUN, please inform me as soon as possible._

_4\. I will take the time now to relate what VIP #2205 and our fireteam has managed to gather on the Cabal who attacked us, and attempt to understand how this even happened._

_As most of you have probably figured out by now, this Cabal faction is called the Red Legion. As Dead Orbit warned us almost two years ago, the Skyburners’ faction distress call that left this very Dreadnaught during the Taken War did reach the Empire. At this point, we can all agree it would’ve been much better had it been VIP #3801 who answered, despite his unpredictability and tendency to steal Guardians away with free gifts._

_The Red Legion has never met defeat. Is it because their leader, VIP #4279 is such a wondrous war strategist? Is it because our defences were more lacking than we could possibly imagine? We have to give it to him. The element of surprise was definitely on his side. The rumours tell us that VIP #4279 and his army have subjugated hundreds of worlds, and there is nothing left of any of them to understand how exactly his tactics go. They leave nothing behind._

_On the subject of VIP #4279, it seems to be that he has an unhealthy obsession with the Light and our Traveller. The Immortal, his main warship, is a testament to this. No one just has the means to cut us all off the Light without having prepared beforehand. I shudder to think on what else he has deviced, but it can’t be any good news for us._

_5\. About that element of surprise. Our whole information, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) network was unable to detect the Legion’s arrival. The very same Guardians who foresaw VIP #2015 failed to anticipate VIP #4279 in any way. Trust me, I asked around._

_Why is this? What could have possibly happened? Is Cabal technology and warfare so advanced that they could bypass all our security measures like this? As a Guardian myself, I cannot help but to think that this might not be the case._

_This might be completely off base, and maybe it’s the cold of this ancient craft finally getting to my head, but what if there was another agency at play here? Something capable of disabling our defences, concealing VIP #4279’s plans from us, and with ulterior motives to do so? If anyone has any ideas about this, hit me up. This has been really bothering me._

_6\. I was very glad to read BBH-659’s report. Cf. 001-EDZ-TER for a small glimmer of hope. The fireteam of Guardians assembled there are among our best, and I trust them to join us soon enough if we do follow VIP #2205’s plans._

_However, I was also very worried to read BBH-659’s other report, cf. 103-TKN-LAS. Could there be a worst moment for the Taken to be under new leadership? We have no means of facing them in this condition. Our priority should be taking back our Light and avoid the Taken as much as possible._

_Stay safe out there._

There was a big part of Baekhyun that was relieved upon seeing news from Lay, and knowing he was with Suho. That they were beginning to form something of a resistance was even better.

But Lay was just too sharp. He wasn’t one of their best Hunters for no reason. His ability to think outside the box was a talent that Baekhyun resented at this moment. He didn’t need Guardians to even consider the idea that someone else had been involved in the Last City’s fall, in any shape or form. 

The state of the fireteam assembled at the farm was a sad thing. Lay would eat his words, Baekhyun reckoned, if he saw what the Guardians were really up to. There was always the possibility of him sharing the log with them, just so they could see there were other Guardians mobilising when they stood paralysed, milking cows and strolling through the countryside.

But that meant Baekhyun would have to share he was a Hidden. That meant sharing what Lay suspected. He entertained the idea that maybe showing any of them would throw them off his scent completely, yet at the same time, Baekhyun felt too paranoid for that.

No. What he had to do was follow what It wanted from him, in hopes of cleaning his conscience at least somewhat— clean his body completely, he expected. Guardians were proving to be useless.

A plan of his own slowly formed in Baekhyun’s mind. He had nothing really tying him to the farm, now that everything was going so smoothly and everyone was so entirely unmotivated to leave. He still had those dead Ghosts, and he could tell Baekbeom he was travelling to the Tangled Shore to sell them. He would leave tomorrow, or the day after that, but no longer than that. He would go to where It needed him to go, and help.

He wasn’t powerless, after all. Not anymore. And he would put an end to, at the very least, his own misery and corruption.

“Show me where to go,” He whispered to nothing at all. Baekhyun knew he was heard.

Sleep claimed the scavenger soon after. 

There was a pool of fresh water in the field of tall, flowing, orange grass where Baekhyun found himself in. It was bright and turquoise, the sand in its shore fine and white, and he could see his reflection on its surface.

He stared at himself. He looked different. He looked… Like before.

Disturbed by the sight, the scavenger instead looked up. The landscape he was greeted with was beautiful. The fields were endless, littered with pink flowers and large, strange trees. There were white, illuminated cylinders and cubes in the horizon, floating in the sunny sky. Vex structures— scary landmarks, they always were, but Baekhyun couldn’t help but to think their radiolarian light made them pleasant to the eye.

The vision only lasted for as long as it took for Baekhyun to commit it to memory. Then, it changed radically, in a flash, into a desolate desert. 

Long gone was the pool of water, leaving nothing in its wake. There was no grass, no trees, no flowers— even the Vex buildings were mere ruins now. Baekhyun could taste sand in his mouth. 

There was a thunderous rumbling, much like the rumble of Cabal warships as they flew over the Last City. Baekhyun looked up to the sky and saw a big –even bigger than the Immortal— warship on it.

It terrified him. However, it terrified him more when he realised that the craft was far, far away, past the atmosphere of this wretched planet. It had to be absolutely massive, if he could see it from the ground.

And then, the ground began to shake, more and more violently, until the very earth beneath Baekhyun’s feet begun to come apart.

**You may feel my punishment with me.**

**We are connected, forever entwined.**

**Save me.**

**Save yourself.**

As usual, the all-encompassing whisper-like voice that couldn’t be heard brought him pain, and Baekhyun screamed. It made him lose his footing, and he nearly fell through one of the cracks of the land. He grabbed onto a rock with both hands and watched in horror as the planet came apart.

It wanted Baekhyun to know the pain it was feeling. It pushed on the doors and walls of Baekhyun’s mind until It was all in, and Baekhyun then only knew torture— he was being fragmented into a million tiny pieces, thrown into insanity, to become feed for a terrible machine.

He understood then. He screamed more.

He woke up with hardly a startle, sometime past midnight. There was only the ghost of an ache left on his body, but the effects on his brain were still present.

Baekhyun was rattled to the core. He bent over the side of his bed and threw up bile and spit.

There was relief, somewhere in there, too— knowing at last who had been calling the shots of his own destiny.

Of course, he had _known_ who he had been dealing with, in a way. Had heard the stories, the whispers, the secrets. He had been _shown_. Knew there had only been nine possibilities on who had decided to make Baekhyun their pawn, in the scavenger’s desperation to survive.

But Baekhyun knew that there was only one planet in the solar system as desolate as the one he had been presented.

Mercury. No life stirred there. Marked with a I, for its position following the Sun. And it made sense, in a way— only such a being, dying as it had to be, would bend Baekhyun’s will as It had, unbeknownst to its siblings.

It seemed its death had been accelerated by their own actions.

Baekhyun stood up shakily and watched himself once more in the mirror. His eyes shone in the darkness. His own death had been accelerated, too, it seemed— by It or some other force, he didn’t know. Though was it really death what awaited him? 

How ironic it all was.

The scavenger decided then— he couldn’t possibly wait until morning. Giving explanations and excuses would just be a waste of time. He had to get to Mercury, as soon as possible, and see what was making the planet be destroyed, if his dreams had been real. Maybe stop it.

Could he really stop it, whatever it was? The man wondered as he dressed, poncho still dirty with his own blood. Would his biggest fears and nightmares, whatever he could conjure, really be enough? He could take a Fallen colony, sure— but could he take on whatever the Cabal surely had up there?

Was that warship the thing It called almighty? 

He left his room as quietly as he could, to find something to clean his own vomit with. An old rag he dampened in the bathroom would do, and he threw it into the garbage carelessly. Once that was done, he grabbed his tablet, his Ace of Spades, and the small black cube that had been the bane of his existence from its hiding spot.

Baekhyun re-packed the duffel bag that he had brought along with him. It was bound to be lighter, as this time, he would take no supplies other than what was essential— his guns, of course.

With a twinge of hurt, he was reminded of Kris. The Hunter would surely disapprove of everything that had led Baekhyun to this moment— but perhaps, he would try to fix it for Baekhyun, find a cure for the infection spreading through the scavenger. He had always had that saviour complex, guilt eating him up whenever he saw either of the Byun brothers. Baekbeom, too, would probably throw away everything he had away if it meant helping Baekhyun in any way.

An image of Chanyeol’s kind face flashed through Baekhyun’s mind. He attempted to repress it.

It didn’t matter. Kris was missing. Baekbeom had a family to take care of and a farm to lead. Chanyeol didn't know him.

Once he was all set, Baekhyun pulled the duffel bag onto his shoulder, and without looking back, he left his own room, bed still unmade. He walked down the stairs silently, mindful of not making the wood under his feet creak with the weight. He couldn’t hear a single thing, which meant everyone was asleep. 

It was perfect. However, at the same time, Baekhyun secretly wished someone would stop him. 

Unexpectedly, he got his wish in the hangar, in the form of Sehun Oh, looking terribly guilty as he mounted a sparrow that most definitely didn’t belong to him. 

“What are you doing here?” Baekhyun asked, baffled at the sight. The young Guardian, tall and lanky, seemed to be trying to shrink in the spot, like a child about to be scolded— however, when he spotted Baekhyun’s baggage, the expression on his handsome face changed to something more defiant.

“I think I could ask you the same thing,” Sehun uttered. “You’re leaving.”

It wasn’t really a question. Sehun didn’t even sound accusatory, but it still made Baekhyun duck his head in shame. It only lasted for a second— he looked up once more, levelling the Hunter with defiance of his own.

“I am,” Baekhyun confirmed. “And it seems you’re trying to do the same.”

Sehun’s jaw tightened imperceptibly.

“You don’t understand!” Vivi popped from behind the sparrow, probably trying to jump start it for his Guardian. The Ghost seemed to be excited and nervous at the same time. “Sehun— he had a vision!”

That certainly had Baekhyun’s interest. He remembered what Baekbeom had told him about Sehun a couple weeks ago. “What kind of vision?”

Was this his way out?

“Well,” Vivi faltered, and turned to Sehun. Sehun seemed to bristle, and it was one of the biggest displays of emotion Baekhyun had seen from him during their time in the farm.

“I don’t know what it means, exactly,” Sehun admitted. “All I know it has to do with the Light— and with that Shard of the Traveller you guys just have sitting on your backyard. We need to get to it.”

“You need to get to the Shard of the Traveller?” Baekhyun repeated. Okay. So no way out. He scoffed. “Have you seen what it looks like? I’m pretty sure that’s an evil, haunted forest. It’s the whole reason this place is called the European Dead Zone. We don’t go there.”

“I’m not asking you to go with me,” Sehun retorted. “I will go on my own.”

“And what, _die_?” Baekhyun countered. “No offense, but you have seen zero, literally _zero_ action since we left the Last City. You have no idea how you’d even fare against whatever’s lurking around the Shard. I bet even a single unarmed Dreg could get to you.”

Sehun huffed impatiently. 

“I’m not a total incompetent jerk, Baekhyun.” Sehun argued, moving from the sparrow towards the scavenger, to face him completely, Vivi following closely. “I am actually a good fucking shot. My Ghost can still heal me. I need to be careful, sure, but didn’t you listen that I got a vision? Those come from the Traveller, Baekhyun. That means it can still reach us, somehow, and the Shard is as close as I can get to it.”

“You know, I had a vision too,” Baekhyun confessed easily. “I saw how hopeless this whole thing is. It’s exactly why I’m leaving. The Traveller can’t help us. It can’t help you.”

Sehun licked his lips, brushed a strand of black hair from his eyes. Crossed his arms at Baekhyun, and Baekhyun expected him to look like a petulant child— instead, he seemed battle-ready and determined.

“Maybe it’s time we help the Traveller, instead.” Sehun declared with intensity. “And you’re not stopping me.”

Sehun went back to the sparrow. Kneeled by it with Vivi, mumbling among themselves on what was making it _not_ work.

Baekhyun watched them both for a long moment. He slowly walked towards the Häkke Vimana, still wide open –and still deathly smelly— and dropped the duffel bag on it, his eyes never leaving the pair of Guardian and Ghost.

Baekhyun couldn’t believe it. What he had been waiting for was finally happening. And it was absolutely unrealistic, dangerous, and stupid. Exactly like every Guardian he had ever met.

 _Damn Guardians_ , he cursed. Always waiting for the last minute to save the fucking day. He groaned, and rubbed the bridge of his nose, before shaking his body as if to get rid of the cold.

“If I’m not stopping you,” He told Sehun then, making the Guardian look up. “I guess then I’m coming with you.” 

Vivi and Sehun shared a look. Sehun broke into a tiny, tiny smile.

“You’re joking.” He accused gently.

“I’m dead fucking serious.” Baekhyun answered, shuffling into his bag to look for his SUROS Regime, the best auto rifle anyone could get. “You’re not going to the Shard alone. And I bet there’s a reason you didn’t wake any of your Guardian friends for this vision of Light— you know they wouldn’t help.”

Sehun hesitated. Vivi jumped in instead. 

“They’re scared,” He explained. “They don’t see what Sehun does. Not even the Speaker understands. There hasn’t been someone like him since Luhan himself. You know so many stories, Baekhyun— you must know of him.” 

“Of course I do,” Baekhyun stated, rolling his eyes. “The guy has an actual _cult_ dedicated to him. You might not want to compare Sehun to Luhan, though. Those visions made Luhan lose his mind, didn’t they? And they got him exiled by his best friend, too.” 

“Wait, what—” Sehun began, but his own Ghost interrupted him.

“—Regardless of that,” Vivi said. “Sehun has a talent. A talent that is often misunderstood, but it hasn’t led us astray so far.”

“If you’re so sure, then you’re gonna need all the help that you can get,” Baekhyun conceded. “Unfortunately, all the help you’re gonna get is me.” 

“No offense, Baekhyun,” Sehun started once more. “But just a second ago you were saying this whole thing is hopeless. Why are you gonna help me?”

Baekhyun stepped out of the Häkke Vimana, walking towards Sehun, offering him his hand to stand. He helped the Guardian up, much like Chanyeol had done to him in the forest during that afternoon. 

“I brought you here. I feel responsible for you.” Baekhyun answered. He paused, and added more sincerely, “And I’ve been waiting for this to happen. I didn’t risk the safety of my brother’s home just so you could lounge around— I was expecting you to fight back.” 

He did a vague hand gesture.

“But I guess that if all I’m getting from any of you is a little night-time escapade to a haunted forest for now,” He joked, smirking at Sehun, “I’ll suppose I’ll just take what I can get.” 

Sehun nodded, smirking back.

“I’ll suppose I’ll take whatever help I can get, too.” The Guardian replied. 

Thirty minutes later, Sehun and Baekhyun were riding horses into Trostland.

The scavenger had convinced Sehun that this way, without the noise of motors, they wouldn’t draw any unnecessary attention to themselves. Riding into town, through the tunnels, and into the Blackened Forest where the Shard was located was a trip best done sneaking. It would take them longer, sure, but no Fallen would jump them, either.

“Not that we’ve seen much of them around here,” Baekhyun related to the Hunter, as they trotted through the dirt road that would take them to Trostland. “But whenever there’s an influx of human activity somewhere, you can bet your ass Fallen will soon follow.”

“I don’t really know much about the Fallen,” Sehun revealed. He seemed more open with Baekhyun now that he thought he could trust him. It was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and Baekhyun had to wonder exactly how long he had been having visions that took him to the Shard. “What’s their deal?”

“I’ve told you they’re pirates and scavengers, Sehun,” Vivi said. “What more do you need?”

Baekhyun gave the Ghost a pointed look. “They’re so more than that. They’re a dying culture. It’s really sad when you think about it.”

“Can you tell me?” Sehun asked earnestly. Baekhyun never backed down from talking, so he began speaking:

“Sure. They actually call themselves Eliksni, and they were proud people. They were an incredible civilisation, they say. So great, the Traveller graced them, too,” Baekhyun retold. “They called it the Great Machine, instead. Just like with us, though, something happened— their very own Collapse. The Traveller abandoned them, then.”

“Abandoned them?” Sehun echoed. “Where did it go?”

Baekhyun chuckled. “Ah, well. It came here.”

“Shit.” Sehun muttered, making Baekhyun laugh candidly.

“Yeah,” Baekhyun agreed. “That’s why we call them Fallen. They searched everywhere they could for the Traveller and arrived at our system not long after the Collapse. They’ve tried everything to regain its favour, too.”

He began enumerating with his fingers, letting go momentarily of the reigns of his horse.

“The Battle of the Six Fronts? Fallen. The Battle of the Twilight Gap? Fallen. The Reef Wars? Fallen. The Wolf Rebellion? Fallen. The SIVA Crisis? Fallen.” Baekhyun shook his head and grabbed the reigns again. “They’re literally everywhere. And I’m certain they’ll use this whole Red Legion invasion thing to their favour. Desperation has made them very crafty.”

“You’ve faced them a lot?” Sehun wondered. Baekhyun chuckled with fake exasperation.

“They’re impossible to avoid, especially in my line of work.” Baekhyun expressed. “Is there anything worth recovering wherever you are? There’s gonna be Fallen there, no doubt. But not all of them are bad and want to kill you. Some of them are willing to see we can have mutually beneficial relationships.”

“You’ve done dealings with Fallen?” 

Baekhyun made an exaggerated ‘ha ha’ sound. “Oh, sweet summer child. All of your best Guardians have. I mean, the Warden of the Prison of Elders is a Fallen.” 

Sehun hummed in acknowledgement. There was silence for a few minutes, and Baekhyun was, for once, content with it. But then Sehun spoke up again. 

“I just— I’m really new to this Guardian thing, you know?” The Hunter confessed, surprising the scavenger with how honest he sounded. “So is Vivi, technically. He spent so long looking for me—” 

“—I was literally ready to give up,” Vivi disclosed, though he didn’t sound so defeated about it. “Those were some long _centuries_.”

Sehun laughed. It was a pleasant sound, high-pitched, young and kind of breathless. It made Baekhyun laugh, too. 

“And where did you find him, Vivi?” Baekhyun asked, truly curious. It was something that could say a lot about a Guardian’s previous life, after all. Those stories, taboo as they may be, had always been interesting to the scavenger. It was what made the Guardians actual humans, after all. Reminded him that they were people, like him. 

“I found him in an abandoned car, right in the middle of some random street in Los Angeles. That’s in Old America.” The Ghost recalled. “He had probably been there ever since the Collapse, by the looks of it.”

“Wow,” Baekhyun intoned, impressed. “That’s a very long time. And you only found each other when, a few months ago?”

“We’re coming up on our six-month anniversary.” Sehun celebrated with little joy, but he had a small smile on his face. “We’ll throw a party when that happens, wherever that is.”

“I hope I can score an invite!” Baekhyun joked.

Vivi laughed. Out of all the Ghosts he had spoken for a longer period of time, he had to be the most chill one, with the exception of RouRou. All of the others were very high-strung, indifferent, or hardly spoke at all. “You got it, Baekhyun. You’ll be a VIP, too.”

“I gotta ask,” Baekhyun continued. “And it’s totally off the record, so don’t worry about anyone finding out. Do you remember your old life?”

Sehun gnawed on his lip. Hummed in consideration, eyes getting lost on the lake for a moment, before returning to Baekhyun’s form.

“A little bit. It’s more snippets and random information, rather than a whole thing, you know?” The Hunter acknowledged. “I knew my name was Sehun Oh, because I had a very old ID card with me. I know my birthday, because of that. I remember having a big brother, like you. I remember liking cars a lot and just taking care of mine a lot. I remember I dropped out of college, and I liked getting into trouble. I think I was just constantly hustling. I remember getting different tattoos I have—” 

“—Tattoos?” Baekhyun whistled. “I need to see those!”

Sehun laughed again, with his whole body, cheeks tinging a pretty pink, bending his body to almost touch his horse’s head. The horse bristled, and Sehun straightened up.

“I’ll show them to you, if you can get me through the haunted forest alive,” Sehun promised, still flushed enough that Baekhyun could see even in the darkness of the night.

“Oh, now you got it, baby,” Baekhyun answered. “I was planning on just dropping you off and letting the forest eat you— but I’m a sucker for tattoos. Now I gotta save you.”

“Do you have any, then?” Sehun wondered with mirth all over his expression. He clarified next, “Tattoos, I mean.”

Baekhyun nodded and winked at Sehun coquettishly.

“I’ll show them to you, if you can get me through the haunted forest alive.” Baekhyun promised back. Sehun smirked at him.

“I’m pretty sure that if you show me,” The Guardian started, “Someone else will get jealous.”

“Who? Taeyeon?” Baekhyun huffed and waved it off. “That’s been over for a long time. She no longer gets jealousy rights. Besides, she moved on before I did! Totally unfair.”

“I was wondering about that,” Sehun admitted. “The first day I thought she was your wife or something, and Taehyung was your kid. Then later, I saw her making out with Tiffany. But anyway! She’s not who I meant.” 

Baekhyun tilted his head at Sehun. “Then, who did you mean?” 

“Like you don’t know,” The boy countered. “Chanyeol and you have this chemistry and tension that’s very hard to ignore.”

“Ah, that,” Baekhyun said, and sighed after a while. “Does that really matter, though? It’s not exactly like we can go on a date right about now. The world is ending.”

Sehun shrugged.

“Love at the end of the world.” He simply said, leaving it at that. Baekhyun hardly thought it counted as love, being attracted to Chanyeol, but he didn’t fight it either.

It took them a couple of hours to finally reach the tunnels, the sky still dark. Sehun marvelled easily at Trostland and how pretty its brick buildings were, the church sitting in the middle of it catching his attention in particular.

“What kind of place is that?” He asked as they passed it. It was Baekhyun’s turn to shrug.

“I know it’s called a church,” The scavenger replied. “But I’m not sure what it was used for. There’s this hanging statue of a guy nailed on a cross inside, though. It’s gnarly.”

“I think I might’ve visited one in my old life, you know?” Sehun said. “No, you know what— I definitely did. I think I went every Sunday, but when I was a kid.”

Baekhyun let out a soft sound of impression. “And what did you do there?” 

“Praise the guy on the cross.” Sehun answered as if befuddled him as well. “It might’ve been my religion.”

Religion. Baekhyun nodded, though it was a very foreign concept to him. Humanity had abandoned religion, or rather, transformed it into a devotion for the Traveller, when they had encountered the entity in Mars. All religions lead back to it, regarding the Traveller as the saviour they had all clamoured for. If not the Traveller, religion was Luhan and his weird cult. Sehun didn’t have much insight on the guy on the cross, though.

At the border of Trostland, they found the entrance of the tunnel, and Baekhyun motioned Sehun to get off the horse. They tied them to a close lamp post, and Baekhyun procured a small tracking device, pressing it on the butt of one of the horses. He turned it on. 

“Even if we don’t make it, Baekbeom will look for me and he’ll find the horses.” He explained to the young Guardian. “They don’t have to suffer because we die.”

Sehun nodded grimly. “You could have a little more faith in us, you know? Vivi can heal us.”

“Not quickly, though,” Baekhyun retorted. “And listen— you’re coming up on six months of being reborn, but I’m coming up on twenty-eight years alive. I don’t get second chances. I’ve never had the Light. I have to think seriously about death, and you should, too.”

“If all goes well,” Sehun replied slowly. “We might not have to.”

It was cryptic. Baekhyun frowned at Sehun, but they got going down the tunnels filled with abandoned cars, rubble, and nature in silence. It wasn’t long before they reached the wall of the Quarantine Zone, a weathered sign claiming they were in Quarantine Sector 236 greeting them. 

Baekhyun felt up the wall to find a small gap he could slip through. Sehun had a little bit more trouble, due to his height and then due to his cape getting caught on the wall, and Baekhyun burst out laughing as he struggled. 

“Shut up,” The Hunter told Baekhyun. “I’m trying!”

“You just look so helpless.” Baekhyun claimed, and moved to help Sehun inside.

The wall gave way to a cave. The three of them continued on, seemingly downwards, and the cave gave way to a large cavern, filled with stalagmites and stalactites. There was hardly time for admiring it, when movement caught Baekhyun’s eye. 

He froze, hand reaching for the Ace but not shooting it just yet. Sehun did the same, hiding behind one of the rock structures surrounding them.

“Did you see that?” Baekhyun whispered.

Sehun could only nod.

It was Fallen. They had to be.

“Get ready for a fight.” Baekhyun warned lowly.

The fight didn’t make them wait. Only seconds later, two Marauders were crawling rapidly to ambush them, war cries ready, and Sehun and Baekhyun quickly drew their hands and fired, before the creatures could get too close to them with their stakes. Sehun had gotten to them both with astounding precision. 

They exchanged glances.

“You weren’t lying about being a good fucking shot,” Baekhyun complimented. “Too bad that probably alerted whatever colony there is here to our presence.” 

“You can’t win them all, I guess,” Sehun deadpanned. “We need to push on.”

They didn’t encounter any Fallen for a while. The Blackened Forest lived up to its name— one couldn’t see the sky at all, and the trees were huge and twisting in eerie ways that had to be due to the influence of the Shard, flowers and plansts glowing with bioluminiscence. There were floating rocks, even a floating car, which only grew in frequency as they approached. That was definitely Shard influence.

Baekhyun could feel it thrumming through his whole body. It was unsettling, and slightly painful for him, even if Sehun looked unbothered. He figured it had to do with the infection.

The Shard came into view, almost anti-climactically as they climbed down a torn down, rusting building. It was always into view, technically, as humongous as it was, but now, they could actually touch it if they wanted. Baekhyun wasn’t sure he wanted to, even if it was a big, pretty, interstellar thing. Baekhyun couldn’t help but to whistle in admiration.

And then, things went to shit pretty fast.

Low Eliksni voices alerted them to the presence of more Fallen, and when a grenade fell right in between them, they had only milliseconds to scramble. Baekhyun still fell harshly against a rock, and he growled out in pain. 

“Fuck!” He yelled, not caring much to hide now that he was certain Fallen had found them. He swiped his hand cannon for the SUROS Regime strapped to his back with agility, sadly more used to this type of encounters than he’d like. And as Fallen began to show themselves like cockroaches, Baekhyun fired.

He moved from target to target swiftly, getting up as fast he could, running into the fire of things, and he could hear that Sehun was doing much the same. Even without the Light, the Nightstalker seemed to be extremely effective in his dispatching of bullets. A true Hunter, he was. And Baekhyun was glad to have him by his side, really, he thought as he hid behind the trunk of a creepy tree, but wherever there was a camp of Fallen there was a— 

A shrapnel shot destroyed the trunk right over his head, and Baekhyun had to duck to avoid being hit by the falling tree.

All groups of Fallen had a Captain to lead them, after all. And they had really cool, really deadly cannons. 

“ _Tikkis, the Diminished Scrapper_!” Vivi announced into his ear, and Baekhyun winced. When had the Ghost hooked up to his radio? “ _He has a shield!_ ”

“All self-respecting Captains have a good shield!” Baekhyun yelled back, as he fired into the bodies of other lesser Fallen, including a Wretch who came at him screaming like some— well. Wretch. “Can you disable it?”

“ _I can and I will._ ” Sehun assured him. The scavenger couldn’t see the Hunter, but he could see the flurry of energy bullets raining on the Captain. It was good to see Sehun had come prepared. Maybe he wasn’t incompetent without his Light, after all.

“Get that shield down and I’ll get the Captain.” Baekhyun ordered, as he exchanged his rifle for the Ace of Spades once more. He aimed carefully, waiting for the second Sehun managed to tear down the Captain’s shield to pieces, even if they fought back fiercely.

They teleported multiple times, but Sehun was quick to find them and keep shooting from his position, which Baekhyun had pinpointed to be just a high rock. Unfortunately, Tikkis had located him too, and was shooting accordingly. 

And then the shield was down.

It was a brief window. It was all Baekhyun needed.

The Ace of Spades was a powerful weapon. It dealt a lot of damage for a simple hand cannon, even when Baekhyun was messy with it. Firing right into his targets’ head was very satisfying. The Solar explosion it caused never disappointed in its results, and the headless body of the Captain fell to the ground unceremoniously.

Baekhyun whooped in victory. Then he got shot on the shoulder.

“Fuck!” He yelled in pain as he fell over. More shooting let him know that Sehun was taking care of whoever had gotten Baekhyun, who decided his priority had to be to hide for now and not bleed out. “Fuck, I knew this was a bad idea.” 

There was silence in the clearing. Baekhyun wondered if the low hum in his ears the Shard was emitting some sort of frequency, or if the arc energy that had gone right through his poncho and chest plate was messing with him quite easily.

“Baekhyun!” Vivi cried out, from very near. “We’re here! I think we got to all of them. That was impressive!”

Sehun and his Ghost materialized through the fog right in front of Baekhyun, the Guardian looking extremely concerned. 

“Are you okay?” He asked. Baekhyun glared at him.

“No, asshole, I just got shot!” He snapped, albeit weakly. Sehun didn’t comment on it, and just helped him up, making Baekhyun wrap his good arm around his shoulders, holding up the scavenger’s body.

“I can heal you, Baekhyun, don’t worry.” Vivi assured him. Baekhyun shook his head.

“I’m not worried,” The man responded, voice strained. “But you came here for a reason, and I’d really like it if you did something about that.”

Sehun’s eyes gravitated to the Shard. It was broken, yet charged with energy. Vivi also turned to it and seemed to become entranced by it.

“Right.” The Ghost mumbled. Without waiting for them, he floated towards the Shard. Once it was right in front of it, he hummed.

“This is why we were led here. I haven’t been this close to the Traveller’s Light since…” He trailed off, emotional. Then he turned to Sehun, who was staying behind with the wounded Baekhyun. “Do you feel it, Sehun?”

Sehun nodded. He looked down at Baekhyun, who nodded back in understanding. The Guardian deposited Baekhyun on a log carefully, and then walked over to the Shard and his Ghost.

He held out his hand, and Vivi moved to be floating over it, facing Sehun. For a moment, Baekhyun thought nothing else would happen— but then, the Shard begun to glow. His eyes widened.

A beam of Light came out from the Shard, straight into Vivi, who in turn seemed to channel the energy into Sehun, who stumbled back. He regained his footing immediately, however, and right before Baekhyun’s eyes, the Hunter was glowing with power.

Vivi was suddenly energised and began to fly around Sehun’s body in triumphant circles, laughing. “Do you feel it?! We’re back, Sehun! We’re back!”

“Well, I’ll be damned.” Baekhyun mumbled to himself, watching in astonishment.

Sehun had gotten his Light back. 

There was a pool of stagnant water in the woods by Baekbeom’s house. Baekhyun had reflected upon it and how it was an allegory for their situation in the farm many times— now though?

Now, they were like the river flowing right by Baekbeom’s house.


	4. the nothingness around her is not indifferent

**iv. the nothingness around her is not indifferent**

****

****

The Light was warmth.

It was all Baekhyun could feel, as Vivi hovered over his injured shoulder, expanding his own shell to let out a small beam of its Light into the wound. The grey-haired man had been tense, expecting at the very least a small prickle of pain— but there was none. There was only comfort, and relief, and Light. 

“All done!” Vivi exclaimed happily, compacting in himself once more. “You’re all set.”

Baekhyun blinked slowly up at the Ghost. The Light was now gone from him, but he could still feel its lingering effects. It made him feel more alive than he had in a while— in a way that wasn’t just adrenaline trying to keep him from dying, from shootouts with alien species, from invasions on his home. He poked into the hole made through his poncho and the chest plate under it with his finger and found no injury whatsoever. His skin was unmarred. 

“Wow.” He let out in awe. He had never been healed by the Light. It was definitely an experience. Sehun and Vivi both looked terribly proud of themselves, even if only Sehun had a face. “That was… Really cool.”

Sehun grinned, unabashed. 

“So, the trip to the haunted forest was worth it, I suppose?” The Hunter teased, sounding more excited than smug. Baekhyun chuckled, and nodded, unable and unwilling to hide how impressed he was. His eyes were surely glinting in the dark, as he appraised Sehun almost reverently. 

“Oh, absolutely,” Baekhyun agreed, standing up and dusting himself off. He hadn’t even needed help from the Guardian. The Light was really something else— if only a small amount of it and such brief contact could have Baekhyun feeling like this, it only made sense that Guardians constantly felt like they were on top of the world. “This is like… A dream.”

“I see you’ve been left speechless,” Vivi commented with satisfaction. “We were starting to think that was impossible.”

“We need to get back to the others,” Baekhyun said. “This is huge. Maybe—”

He didn’t finish his sentence. Instead, the three of them turned to the Shard of the Traveller, almost instinctively. It was no longer humming or thrumming or anything similar, or at least, Baekhyun couldn’t feel it. If he had to guess, it was as if it had gone into some sort of hibernation. He pursed his lips. 

“It’s not gonna do the same thing for the rest of them,” He stated with certainty, if a bit sad. He looked over at Sehun and Vivi. “Is it?”

Sehun shook his head. He looked almost guilty. “I don’t think so, no.”

Baekhyun nodded, pausing for a moment to contemplate this. He smirked then, making a fist and bumping Sehun’s arm with it.

“Hey, the Traveller chose you,” He commended. “Of all Guardians out there, out of all the legends you walk around— it chose you, to get their Light back.” 

The Hunter’s cheeks were starting to become pink. He looked pleased, yet still guilty and unsure. A little bit of imposter’s syndrome, perhaps. 

“I guess it did.” Sehun acquiesced.

“Oh, I’m not guessing,” Baekhyun countered. “I saw it with my own two eyes. The Traveller really did choose you. It showed you the way here. This is— you wanna know how I feel?”

“How?” It was Vivi who asked.

“Like I’m standing next to Shin Malphur himself,” Baekhyun chuckled in wonder. “You just might be our ticket into turning this whole thing around.”

Sehun hesitated. Licked his lips and ran a hand through his black hair.

“I don’t know how I feel about that.” The young Hunter admitted quietly.

“I think I’m feeling enough for the both of us, to be honest.” Baekhyun replied easily. “Let’s go. We have a long way ahead.” 

It took them longer to get out of the Blackened Forest than it had to get in. Baekhyun had the suspicion that the strange combination of Darkness and Light brought about by the Shard made the shape and geography of the forest change constantly. However, eventually, they did manage to reach the very same wall they had slipped in through, and Sehun’s cape got caught once more as they left. 

Feeling more energised than ever before in his life, Baekhyun dared the Guardian to a race to the horses. Sehun only smirked, and then proceeded to cheat all the way to the animals with his newfound abilities, which included jumping— ridiculously high jumping, that made it seem like he was flying. 

Honestly, Baekhyun couldn’t even find within himself the will to be mad. He watched Sehun in amazement, in giddiness, in happiness, in relief, like a child who got to visit the Tower for the very first time and see Guardians up close, and like an adult who needed a break from the most hopeless situation he had ever been in at the same time.

He nearly collapsed when they finally reached the patiently awaiting creatures. He bent over, panting harshly, yet unable to really stop smiling.

“Get that tracker for me, please,” Baekhyun managed to choke out. “I’ll need it for my next near-death adventure.” 

Sehun laughed heartily. He pried the small device from the horse’s hair, and it bristled at the sensation, nearly kicking the Hunter in the process. Sehun only laughed more and Baekhyun giggled with him, giddy.

The Light was laughter.

Neither of them had much experience riding horses, but it didn’t stop them from galloping as fast as the animals allowed them to back to the farm, even if it meant bouncing painfully on the leather saddles. The trip back wasn’t filled with conversation, the three of them just too hyped up to even speak and the wind too strong in their ears. 

Their absence had clearly been noticed— even from afar, Baekhyun could see the gathering of people near the fountain. It was the middle of the morning, too, by now. Whether they heard the horses or saw them riding, Baekhyun didn’t know— but soon, some of the figures were actually sprinting to meet Sehun and he halfway.

It was Tao, surprisingly, the one who got to them first, out of breath and looking both upset and glad at the same time.

“Where the hell were you?!” The Warlock demanded, mostly looking at Sehun, even if he spared Baekhyun a glance or two. “Do you have any idea how worried I was?! Do you want to kill me from fear?! Is that it?! Don’t you think I’ve had enough?!”

Tao seemed close to tears now, and Baekhyun winced, but Sehun only smiled with a combination of pity, guilt, and mirth.

“I’m sorry.” He offered unconvincingly.

Tao’s glassy eyes narrowed. “Oh, you’re _sorry_? You’ll be fucking sorry when I—”

“—Baekhyun,” Chanyeol had been the next one to reach them, followed closely by D.O and Kai. Baekbeom was trotting behind them, looking stern. He was definitely planning on how to maximise Baekhyun’s guilt, Baekhyun knew that look, so the scavenger instead focused on the Titan’s handsome frown. “Sehun. Where did you guys go? We were so worried when we couldn’t find either of you, and—” 

“—Your stuff was in your ship, but you weren’t there.” Kai added, nodding to Baekhyun. Then to Sehun, “And you, your stuff was totally gone. You both just went up in smoke or something.” 

“A note would’ve been nice,” D.O chimed in with a flat tone. “Really, just common courtesy. Otherwise, that’s just going AWOL.”

“Yeah, I’m no soldier.” Baekhyun snarked with a grin, just to spite the Titan and be a little shit. “I have no obligation to let you know if I wanna run off in the middle of the night.”

“You have an obligation to your family, Baekhyun Byun.” Baekbeom was now there, and oh no, he looked really angry. The scars and the eye patch only served to make him look even tougher than he actually was, and Sehun cowered just a little bit next to Baekhyun. Baekhyun maybe did, too. “What in the world were you thinking? Like I don’t know what a duffel bag in the Häkke Vimana means—”

Baekhyun yelled to stop his older brother from talking.

“I wasn’t thinking!” He answered easily, as he dismounted his tired horse, lowering his voice. Sehun moved to do the same. “I felt desperate.”

“Desperate over what?” Baekbeom questioned harshly. “You have a shelter, food, your nephew, and Traveller knows _that’s_ never been enough to keep you around, I should know better by now, and I keep hoping—” 

“—I got it, I got it! I’m despicable!” Baekhyun cried out, but he wasn’t hurt nor offended. He couldn’t be. Not when he had been touched, albeit shortly, by the Light itself, right in the core of his heart. “Will you let me explain? I promise you can yell at me over how ungrateful I am afterwards, if you still have words for it.” 

“Oh, I’ve got words,” Baekbeom promised darkly. “So many. I’m gonna scream at you until my throat is raw, you brat.”

Chanyeol cleared his own throat awkwardly.

“Not to get in the middle of family issues,” He said calmly, eyes darting between the two brothers quickly, hands raised in what was probably a soothing manner. “But I’d really like to know why did Baekhyun and Sehun leave at all.” 

Baekhyun smirked. By now, Chen and Lord Donghae had been walking towards them as well, CL and BoA slowly following them. Almost all Guardians were watching. The grey-haired man turned to look at Sehun. 

“Well?” Baekhyun prompted. “This is your show, Sehun Oh, Traveller’s Chosen.”

“Please don’t ever call me that again.” Sehun deadpanned.

Then, before anyone else could add another word, Sehun called upon the Light— Baekhyun wasn’t sure how it worked. All he knew that, in a moment, the Hunter’s body was engulfed in the strange, hazy energy of the Void, summoning a bow and arrow that he fired into the treeline not far from them. Baekhyun grinned proudly at the sight of their flabbergasted spectators. 

The Light was pride. He could feel it spreading through his chest. 

“I— I don’t have any words.” Baekbeom admitted, as he walked next to his brother, on the trek back to the farm, pulling on one of the horses. 

The elder had been stunned into silence at Sehun’s revelation, much like Chanyeol, D.O, and Chen. Others, like Tao and Kai, and the younger Guardians, had been cheering around the Hunter nonstop, blabbering praise, asking so many questions in quick succession that Sehun had no way to answer any of them, screaming and hugging the relatively newborn Hunter. The rest of them, like Baekhyun himself, Lord Donghae, and Heechul and CL, were thanking the skies that this had even happened at all.

“I seem to recall you saying you had so many, though.” Baekhyun teased, fully expecting the hard slap he received to the back of his head. He still yelped in pain. 

“Shut the fuck up, Baekhyunnie,” Baekbeom said, annoyed. “You were planning on leaving. Yeongja and I could tell. When I saw your tracker completely still in the middle of Trostland, I—” 

The man shook his head, stopping then. When he spoke again, he was gentler.

“You know better than to leave unannounced in the middle of the night.” Baekbeom berated quietly. “I know you can never stay still. I know it was only a matter of time. But I expected a little warning. You’re all I have left.” 

“Correction: you’re all _I_ have left.” Baekhyun replied softly. “You have Yeongja, Taehyung, Taeyeon, Tiffany, RM— this whole place is all yours.” 

Baekbeom sighed, and he pulled Baekhyun close by the nape of his neck. “But you’re my little brother. And you know you’re part of this farm too, you just— you just don’t wanna stay.”

Baekhyun nodded. There was no point in lying to Baekbeom. And perhaps it was some remnant of Light in him, or perhaps it was watching Sehun and the Guardians celebrate. But he felt like confessing a bit more.

“I’m in some deep shit, Beom.” He confessed.

“When are you not, Baekhyunnie?” Baekbeom asked, but he was still immediately worried. His one eye turned to look at the grey-haired man. “What is it? Bad deal with the Spider?”

It was Baekhyun’s turn to shake his head. 

“It started as a way to save my life, that’s all,” He continued. “And I got a bit greedy, maybe. No. Definitely. And it got to be way too much to handle really fast.”

Baekbeom was silent, listening intently. Baekhyun grabbed a big gulp of air. “And last night, I just got _really_ desperate— let’s say, one of the nine people who have a leash on me now got to calling. And I had to run, try and fix this big gigantic mess I got us all into, somehow.” 

“Oh.” Baekbeom intoned seriously, seemingly understanding.

“Yeah, oh,” Baekhyun echoed. “But then— I ran into this other Oh.”

He gestured to Sehun with a nod of his head. “His Ghost and he were going all about this vision they had— wanting to go to the Shard on their own. And I figured, ‘what the hell’, right? It’s not like I could fuck up even more if I just guided them there. And then…”

He made an expansion motion with his arms. “The motherfucker got his Light back,” He looked over at Baekbeom again, with a small smile. “And what could I do, more than hope again?”

Baekbeom was silent for a long time, practically until they reached the barn. They had been left behind with the horses, and they got them back into their pens, making sure they had hay and water to feed on after such a long journey. Baekhyun knew better than to interrupt his brother’s processing. 

When they left, it was clear the kitchen of the Byun home had become the point of reunion to discuss what had happened. Loud voices could be heard coming from it, and people like Hodong and Nana were pouring out of it and into the small back porch, listening in. 

“You wouldn’t be the first nor the last Byun family member to get into some deep shit, Baekhyun,” The elder finally said carefully, and Baekhyun’s shoulders sagged with relief. “And I’m gonna help you out. Just, write it down for me or something.”

The implications were clear to Baekhyun— _it isn’t safe to discuss this here, I want exact details of everything, I’m sorry I left you on your own, I feel personally responsible as your older brother for whatever you did, damn it Baekhyun, I will do all in my power so you can fix this._

Baekhyun knew Baekbeom understood the gist of what had probably happened. Marvelled at his capacity of forgiveness. Wondered if it would last, when Baekbeom saw his brother for who he really had become in such little time. Or maybe, who he had always been— just waiting for an opportunity to show himself. 

“Hey,” The older Byun called gently, noticing he was losing Baekhyun to his own head. He ruffled Baekhyun’s messy grey hair, and his smile was reluctant, yet warm. “Don’t turn away from me, brother.”

Baekhyun couldn’t help but to return the smile.

The Light was hope.

“I really, really need you to tell us what in the world happened last night.” Chanyeol was saying to Sehun when they walked in, pushing past the others, Baekbeom having to mutter more than once that this was _his_ house, after all, and that he had priority seating if all impromptu meetings would be in his kitchen. “What even drove you to go to a place like the _fucking Shard of the Traveller_?”

Unsure he had ever heard the Titan curse, Baekhyun couldn’t help but to snort. Chanyeol immediately locked eyes with him, and Baekhyun winked at him playfully. Disgruntled, the blond looked away and back at Sehun, ears and cheeks turning slightly red. 

“I just— I just saw it in my dreams.” Sehun explained shortly. His arms were crossed over his chest, maybe defensive. No, definitely defensive. Baekhyun realised this had to be the peak of the most attention he had ever received from the more experienced Guardians, save from Tao –who was usually glued to his side— and Kai. 

“What does that even mean, you saw it in your dreams?” D.O questioned, but it wasn’t as harsh as expected from him. He had Taehyung in his arms again, allowing the toddler to pull on his black hair wherever it was long enough, barely reacting to it. “Like, what, a vision?” 

Tao, sitting next to Sehun, puffed out his chest. 

“Sehun has the best visions anyone in the City has had since Luhan himself was around. Guardian Xiumin has said it a bunch of times!” He claimed with pride. Sehun hid his face in one of his hands. 

Chen chuckled, as if he remembered that suddenly. “Xiumin did mention Sehun’s abilities once or twice. He was impressed by how strong and clear your visions were, and when you were just reborn, too.”

He leaned in over the table, then, thoughtful, even if the Warlock still had a friendly smirk on his face. “But he said you had trouble with them, too. Hardly understood them, most of the time. And you didn’t want the Speaker’s help, either. So, what changed?”

Sehun shrugged. 

“Come on, Oh,” Chen added. “Throw us a bone here! You disappear in the middle of the night with Byun, without a word to anyone, and come back with your Light completely restored because you say the Traveller lead you there. Can you understand how a Warlock like me just really wants to strangle your ass right now out of jealousy?”

Okay. So, not that friendly. Baekhyun cringed for Sehun.

“You say it like it was intentional,” Sehun protested. He shook his head. “Look— all the visions I’ve had since we left the Last City have been different. Now I see they were pointing in the same direction, probably— but I _do_ have a hard time understanding them. Some got mixed with other dreams. Some were straight up nightmares. Some were memories.” 

“Then answer the question, Oh.” D.O not so much demanded, because he could hardly look demanding when he was tickling Taehyung, sending the little boy into giggles, with his lips pulled into that rare heart-shaped smile. His tone was very demanding, though. “What _changed_?”

Kai sent Sehun an embarrassed glance, as if apologising for D.O’s forcefulness. Sehun just waved him off.

“Okay,” Sehun replied. “You wanna know what changed? Whatever was being shown to me, it just stuck this time.”

He continued, crossing his legs too along with his arms. “You know when you dream, sometimes you wake up and don’t remember a single thing? You _know_ you had a dream, you just can’t see it. This time, I just woke up and I understood what I had to do. And I had to do it right away.” 

“Why didn’t you wake any of us?” Chanyeol asked, looking all parts betrayed. “Not even Tao knew where to even look for you.”

Sehun licked his lips. Then stared into Chanyeol like was staring into his soul. 

“None of you, not even Tao, no offense, would have helped me, and you know it.” The Hunter declared. 

“I would’ve totally helped you!” Tao exclaimed, sounding like he was extremely offended.

Sehun sighed heavily and put a hand over the spot where Tao’s neck met with his shoulder.

“No, you wouldn’t have,” He retorted more sweetly, turning to the Warlock once more. “You would’ve been scared.”

He then turned to look at all the other Guardians.

“All of you would have been,” Sehun stated confidently. “Without your Light, you’re terrified of what could happen, and I don’t blame you. I was scared too, but I just _had_ to go, at whatever cost.”

“So, you took, of all people, Baekhyun.” Kai deadpanned. Baekhyun squawked.

“What is that supposed to mean?!” He cried out. Kai had the decency to look ashamed, at least a little bit. 

“I just—” Kai scratched the back of his head sheepishly, as he tried to find the words. He looked at D.O, who merely raised an eyebrow at him, as Taehyung poked his cheek and he remained impassive. “—Well. I don’t know if distinctions are worth anything, now, but you’re not a Guardian, and Sehun is— Uhm. Inexperienced.”

Baekhyun huffed, rolling his eyes. “What does it mean to be a Guardian to you, Kai?” 

The Titan hesitated.

“Is it being a hero? Does it have to do with the Light? Being a light-borne and whatnot?” He prompted, but Kai stayed mute. Too bad. He had gotten Baekhyun into rambling mode. 

“I’ve heard and read about all that you’ve done,” Baekhyun continued. “D.O and Kai, the Crimson Doubles. Chen, the Devils’ House’s Bane. Tao, Slayer of the Kell of Kells. Chanyeol, Crota’s fucking End. Not to mention we have the old legends here— Lord Donghae, CL, Cryptarch BoA, Heechul, my man—”

Heechul did a small fist bump of recognition, but he looked chastised anyway, in his own corner of the room. 

“And yet, somehow, none of that meant anything to the Traveller,” Baekhyun continued. “Nah— He chose _Sehun_. Inexperienced? Maybe. But he was fucking ready to follow his vision into whatever shit the Traveller had prepared for him, and you know what? You’re right. He didn’t even need me there. He got a fucking Fallen Captain twice his size in a single shot, never mind if he didn’t have his Light back yet.” 

“Baekhyun—” Sehun tried but fell silent almost instantly.

“I was going to leave last night,” Baekhyun revealed, though he figured it wasn’t much of a secret. “Wanna know why? You have me absolutely disappointed, sitting here, tending to fucking _tomatoes_ on my brother’s farm, when you’re supposed to be saving Humanity and taking back what’s ours!”

He pointed dramatically at Sehun.

“ _He_ showed me it was still possible. That there was still hope,” Baekhyun sentenced intensely. “ _He’s_ the Traveller’s Chosen, and I will follow him anywhere. I’d suggest you do the same, _Guardians_ , because— right now? You’re no better than lowly me.” 

The silence after his spirited speech was heavy. Baekhyun swallowed, his throat dry. Was he sweating? He felt like he was sweating.

“Guardians,” It was Lord Donghae who broke the tension, seemingly amused. “Our dear colleague here has a very good point.”

Chen nodded vigorously. “You’re absolutely right, Lord Donghae. You’re absolutely right, Baekhyun.” He looked at Baekhyun earnestly. “We’ve been sitting idly for too long. Sehun got his Light back, and maybe we won’t be able to, but this is a sign as clear as any.”

Chanyeol sighed, as if this was just too overwhelming, but he was getting over it. 

“Okay. Okay,” He started. Baekhyun could once more see that confident, dominant side he had beginning to peek out once more, as the Titan rubbed his head with both hands and then almost glared at Sehun. “I agree, too. We’ve been doing nothing but live off Baekbeom’s kindness for too long.”

He leaned in, serious, directly at Sehun. “Tell us, Traveller’s Chosen. Where should we go from here?” 

Sehun looked uncomfortable at first, but he seemed to be thinking it over earnestly. It only took him a moment to decide.

“Titan.” He said plainly. Baekhyun felt cold all of the sudden, eyes widening. 

“Titan?” Chanyeol repeated. “As in… The moon?”

“Titan as in the moon.” Sehun confirmed.

Chanyeol nodded, pursing his lips. Paused. Then he shook his head. “Okay, see, that makes absolutely no sense, why would we ever go somewhere as far as Titan—” 

It was destiny. Fate. Whatever. It had to be. Because right then, the radio equipment Baekbeom had set up in the radio began beeping in alarm with an incoming beacon. Everyone fell silent once more, as Baekbeom muttered an 'excuse me' and moved closer to be able to receive the message with the press of a button. The radio crackled with the familiar, calming voice of Guardian Suho. 

“ _Guardians— the City has been lost. Our Vanguard is torn. If there is any Light left in the system… We rally on Titan. Be brave_.”

It was a pre-recorded broadcast, probably sent out to every location there was in the Sol system. It began repeating itself almost immediately. Nobody listened to it, because the uproar was immediate.

“Suho is alive?!” Chen screamed in disbelief.

“Suho is alive!” Tao cheered with joy, already crying.

“What the fuck, Sehun, was that a vision or did you know something—” Kai was yelling.

Taehyung was sobbing in D.O’s arms, startled at the sudden screaming all around him, and D.O was shushing him and soothing him as best as he could. “Everyone, shut up, the baby—”

“That prediction was so— so serendipitous!” Heechul told CL in awe. “Had you seen anything like that since—?”

“—No,” CL replied, just as impressed. “I haven’t.”

“Looks like we have a new Commander.” Lord Donghae commented to Baekbeom, who simply nodded. 

Baekhyun couldn’t help it. He locked eyes with Chanyeol, who looked like he was going to be sick. The miserable expression on his face made him snicker, until he was full on laughing when Chanyeol scowled further at the scavenger’s reaction.

The Light was a path.

Under their new circumstances, the Guardians organised themselves quickly.

Chanyeol was still their unspoken leader of sorts, even with the presence of Lord Donghae and other senior Guardians, Sehun’s recovered powers, and Baekhyun’s little spiel. His authority went unquestioned among them, and it was he who decided that not all of them could leave the EDZ and indeed rally in Titan. 

“We can’t leave the farm unprotected,” He claimed. “Not after everything they’ve done for us.”

He had looked right at Baekhyun when he said that. The grey-haired man opted to hide his face in his handiwork of attempting to sew his poncho back together.

Jimin and J-Hope had volunteered almost immediately, much to the delight of RM— it was cute seeing him make new friends. Cryptarch BoA had respectfully asked to stay as well to further her own studies, and Heechul had also preferred to stay, claiming he was too old to be jumping from place to place like this, and he would much rather fight whoever tried to step into the farm.

CL had a different insight.

“You mentioned a Fallen Captain,” She told Baekhyun. “We all know that where there’s a Captain, there’s bound to be more Fallen. Plus, I’ve seen more than one Cabal ship fly close by. I think they might be establishing a base nearby.” 

The girls, Jennie, and Rosé, and Jisoo, and Lisa, all agreed with their elder. They asked to stay, and even began planning a perimeter of sorts, to begin watching over the farm as they should.

Lord Donghae was the big shock, really. 

“Not that I wouldn’t love a good fight,” The Crucible manager assured them. “But I think it’s time for the new generation to show what they’re capable of, under Guardian Suho— no, _Commander_ Suho’s capable guidance. A new Vanguard must arise. I would only be in the way.” 

And so, it was decided— Chanyeol, Tao, D.O, Kai, Chen, and of course, Sehun, would be the ones to go meet Suho —and Lay— in Titan. They would leave after a farewell lunch Hodong offered to make them in celebration, with the help of Yeongja and D.O, who was apparently a good cook.

Baekhyun entertained the idea of going to Titan with them for a moment, he would admit. However, an echo of Kai’s earlier words, as harmless as the young man had intended them to be, was enough to deter him and stop before he even embarrassed himself by suggesting it.

No. He was no Guardian. He didn’t belong with them, and they didn’t really want him with them.

Where he did belong was in Mercury, where a planet was coming apart, presumably because of the Red Legion and because of his own actions. A pang on the back of his head reminded him of this. He had to deal with that— with whatever was happening there. He had to figure that out.

With time to kill before their meal, Baekhyun decided to hang by the back porch of the Byun farmhouse, still sewing and attempting to convince himself that Mercury was just another front of the war. Once he had been done with the bullet hole, he had detected little imperfections he could repair. Unable to fix anything else for the time being, Baekhyun focused on this. It took his mind off things, and the smell of food was really nice.

Sehun walked up to him, followed closely by Vivi, and Tao and his own Ghost, Candy. They greeted him, and then stood right there. Tao gave Sehun a meaningful stare, and not-so-subtly, nudged him to sit by Baekhyun. The Hunter did so, begrudgingly. 

Baekhyun just waited. It was clear Sehun had something to say, and Tao was there to offer moral support. Baekhyun grinned at the Warlock, who grinned back happily.

“Baekhyun,” The Warlock called sweetly. “What’s the furthest out you’ve been in the system?”

“Pluto,” Baekhyun replied automatically. “Next question.”

“You’ve been to Titan before, then?” Tao asked. Baekhyun nodded with a hum, as he pulled the purple thread carefully through the fabric of his poncho. “What’s it like?” 

“Uh, well,” Baekhyun thought for a moment, conjuring up images of the methane ocean moon in his head. “It has a lot of water. Terrible weather. But most of its Golden Age cities are intact, just the wear and tear of time, so it’s kind of like stepping into the past. Oh, and it’s empty— so. Perfect hideout.” 

He leaned forward and lowered his voice conspiratorially. “It’s a real nice place to plan a secret counteroffensive, if you ask me.”

“That’s great!” Tao replied cheerfully. “Suho is a great strategist.” 

Baekhyun chuckled but nodded again. “I suppose he is. I don't know him much.”

The conversation died easily then, since Baekhyun was still waiting. Tao stood frozen with his soft smile for a couple of minutes, until it was clear to him that Sehun wasn’t going to speak. The Warlock rolled his eyes in annoyance, and glared at the Hunter with urgency, clearly communicating something in silence. 

“Candy and I have to pack a few things, right, Candy?” The Warlock announced suddenly. Candy nodded vigorously. 

“So many things,” The female Ghost added. “We’ll leave you two alone, to do that, and maybe you guys can talk in the meantime.”

“We’ll be right back!” Tao assured them, but it was directed at Sehun, who was looking betrayed. He mouthed something as he walked into the house at the Hunter, which looked awfully a lot like ‘talk to him’. Baekhyun snickered as quietly as he could.

It still took a while for Sehun to gather his courage. Baekhyun was starting to imagine what could possibly have the Guardian acting so awkward and bizarre, when the black-haired boy finally spoke up.

“Back in there,” Sehun began, pointing vaguely into the kitchen. “You lied. About the Captain.”

Baekhyun arched an eyebrow at Sehun and looked back down at his poncho.

“I did.” He asserted, pulling on the thread once more. “It looked like someone needed to give you a little vote of confidence. Plus, all in all, it was teamwork, taking— uh, what was their name again? Tippis?” 

“Tikkis.” Vivi supplied.

Baekhyun snapped his fingers in recollection. “Right, Tikkis. Tikkis, the Diminished Scrapper. Anyway, it was teamwork, taking them down.”

“You got the shot, though,” Sehun insisted. “All you needed was a single chance, and you got them. Right through their head, too.” 

Baekhyun felt pleased at the praise, but he still frowned at Sehun. “I mean— I’m sorry. Where are you going with this, Sehun?”

The Hunter didn’t answer right away. He licked his lips, first, which Baekhyun was starting to realise was a habit of his. Sehun had a lot of those.

“Were you lying about the rest of it, though?” Sehun questioned then, looking up right into Baekhyun’s eyes. “When you said you thought the Traveller chose me. And that you’d follow me anywhere.” 

Surprised by the line of questioning, the scavenger shook his head.

“I didn’t lie about that, no.”

“Then follow me to Titan.” Sehun asked. Baekhyun stared at him in shock, but then just snorted humourlessly.

“I’m not going to Titan with you,” He answered, Sehun deflating in a second. “I know not to go where I’m not wanted.”

“We want you there, though!” Vivi exclaimed. “No, scratch that, we _need_ you there! We talked about it, and yeah, maybe the other Guardians are a little lukewarm on the idea, but—”

“—You did hear Kai, didn’t you?” Baekhyun interrupted the Ghost. “He _is_ right, even if I don’t like it. I’m not a Guardian. Why the hell would I join a bunch of Guardians on a Guardian fight?”

“But you said it yourself, we’re no different from you without the Light.” Sehun retorted. “You’ve been surviving without it for almost twenty-eight years. I think this might be the longest I’ve been without any reviving from Vivi since I was reborn, and I know it’s the same for the rest of us.” 

“Two weeks isn’t a long time at all, you guys should really try harder—” Sehun sighed, exasperated.

“That’s not the point!” The Hunter stopped him on his tracks. “You have amazing aim. You know the whole solar system. The elders clearly respect you, even if we don’t much. You’re also the only one, along with Tao, who doesn’t resent me for getting my Light back.”

“How could I resent you for that?” Baekhyun asked sincerely.

Sehun just smiled a bit sadly.

“You said you’d follow me anywhere,” Sehun repeated. “I definitely need you to follow me to Titan.”

Baekhyun honestly didn’t know what to say. He slowly put down the thread and needle in his hands, a hundred different excuses right in the tip of his tongue.

He felt almost pathetic, with how a little begging from a Guardian had him so affected. He missed how Vivi nudged Sehun on the shoulder, and Sehun licked his lips once more. 

“There’s also… Something else.” He confessed. Baekhyun tilted his head to the side, unsure if he could handle more information.

“What else?” He prompted, subdued.

There was some noise from the side of the house, right by them. Sehun looked around, seemingly paranoid, but when Baekhyun didn’t react much, he relaxed. Or tried to. 

“In my vision, I saw you.” Sehun finally said, and Baekhyun’s stomach dropped. When the scavenger didn’t say anything, Sehun explained himself. 

“You looked different. You had this… Light auburn hair. You looked happier, and peaceful. And you were in a grass field, with these pink flowers, right by a really pretty pond.” Sehun narrated, eyes closed and with Vivi watching him intently. Baekhyun was glad for that, because he knew he had to be looking more and more panicked by the second. “And then… Everything changed. Even you. It was the same place, but it was a desert, and you had your silver hair, and looked… Scared.”

 _Oh, no_. 

“You looked up then— I don’t know what you saw, but you were terrified, I could just tell. And then, there was an earthquake, and the desert just began to crumble away, I don’t know how else to put it.” Sehun continued, unaware of the effect he was having on Baekhyun. “You tried to save yourself, but in the end, you fell and fell and fell, right into space.”

Baekhyun gulped. Sehun opened his eyes.

“And then I woke up.” He concluded. He frowned when he noticed how distressed Baekhyun looked. “That face— that’s why I didn’t wanna tell you.”

“Can you blame me?” Baekhyun laughed nervously. “You saw me die.”

“It’s important, though,” Vivi added gently. “That’s how we figured it out.”

“How?”

“The common denominator in everything that has happened has been you.” Sehun answered. “Who just happened to be by the Plaza when the Light disappeared and ordered us into his ship? Who collected a bunch of Guardians, that for some reason all show up in my dreams and had even before I met them officially? Who brought us into his family’s secret home, which just happened to be by the Shard of the Traveller?”

Baekhyun didn’t answer. Sehun poked the scavenger’s shoulder with his index finger.

“It’s true that I’ve had difficulties with my visions before,” Sehun admitted easily. “Tao has been the only one who has tried to help me decipher them. And if he taught me anything at all, it’s that coincidences don’t exist.”

“Baekbeom and I came to the EDZ years ago,” Baekhyun countered, dumbfounded, as he understood where Sehun was getting at. “He liked— he thought Yeongja would love having the Shard in the horizon. I thought it was creepy. It’s like a corpse.”

Sehun shrugged. 

“You still chose this place.” The Hunter replied. “The _only_ special thing about the EDZ, the _truly_ special thing, is that Shard. The Red Legion has to have been travelling for at least two years to get to Earth. This has to have been years in the making.”

“So, what, the Traveller just plans ahead?” Baekhyun joked. Sehun shrugged once more. 

“I don’t know if it’s the Traveller who’s planning,” The Hunter responded, shaking his head. “But the plan clearly includes you. And I understood that perfectly when we were at the Shard. I wouldn’t have survived without you. I wouldn’t have even found a way in without you.”

“You’re vital to this story, Baekhyun,” Vivi interjected gently. “Wherever it’s going.”

A new pang assaulted Baekhyun’s head, and he winced involuntarily. Of course, he was being watched. And of course, the watcher agreed with the Hunter and his Ghost. 

**The catalyst.**

**If only they knew.**

Baekhyun frowned in pain and rubbed his eyes as if he was tired. He heard Sehun taking in a breath, ready to ask if the scavenger was okay— instead, he got up suddenly, and Baekhyun opened his eyes to find Chanyeol deliberately stepping out from the side of the house, his Ghost peeking behind his elbow. The Titan had an unreadable expression, and his eyes were a little wide.

“Chanyeol!” Sehun almost yelled. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Uh, hi, we were—”

“Save it, please,” Chanyeol interrupted the Hunter with a lifted hand. “I just heard all of it.”

Sehun looked anywhere and everywhere but at Chanyeol.

“Oh.” He replied dumbly. “How much?”

Chanyeol’s already wide eyes opened just a fraction more, and Baekhyun had to stifle a nervous laugh over how nearly deranged he looked.

“ _All of it,_ ” The blond repeated himself seriously. “Right from when you asked Baekhyun why he had lied over that Fallen Captain. Why, was there _more_?”

“We just wanted to see if the food was ready.” Toben mumbled, sounding hurt that Sehun had hid any of this from them.

Sehun floundered.

“I’m so dead.” He muttered with eyes to the sky. He ran a desperate hand through his black locks and licked his lips. “Okay. So, Chanyeol, I swear, this isn’t what it looks like—”

Chanyeol didn’t allow him to finish. “What do you think it looks like?”

“Uhm.” Sehun squeaked.

Chanyeol nodded resolutely, crossing his arms as he too stepped into the back porch with them. Baekhyun wanted to shrink into himself until the Earth swallowed him. He felt naked without his poncho. He cut the thread with his teeth, deeming his job done, and already planning his escape. 

“I’ll say it for you,” The blond Titan suggested. “You don’t trust us. You don’t trust me. And you sure as hell don’t wanna be stuck in Titan with us. But you do trust Baekhyun.”

Sehun didn’t respond. Baekhyun was absolutely certain Chanyeol would blow up on them, even if technically they had done nothing wrong. 

Instead, Chanyeol just smiled at them both, kind and a little sad. 

“I don’t blame you,” The Titan carried on. “You’re right to think we’re a bit jealous. At least, I know I am. And Baekhyun _is_ trustworthy.”

Baekhyun coughed. “I really am not.” 

“You are,” Chanyeol remarked, smiling a little more widely as he looked at the scavenger sitting down. Damn it all to hell, he had no right to have that dimple. “I mean, you saved us. Brought us here. Helped Sehun get his Light back. Even when you’re disappointed in us, and with every right to be so.” 

Oh, could Earth get on that whole swallowing him alive thing? He really needed it now, under Chanyeol’s intense eyes. 

“Sehun and Vivi make a compelling case, though, you know?” Chanyeol continued. “It’s obvious you’re an important part of retaking back the City. And regardless of something as whimsical as destiny, you’re a great warrior.” Chanyeol shuffled his feet and lowered his voice just a notch as he finished. “The kind of great warrior I’d love to have by my side.”

Baekhyun’s eyes glinted with mischievousness. Chanyeol immediately turned red.

“Fighting!” He amended. “I would love to have you by my side fighting!”

“I’m starting to think you have a crush on me.” Baekhyun teased, his own cheeks heating up with pleasure. He couldn’t tell if the butterflies in his stomach were from the excessive praise he was receiving, or something else. Chanyeol was just really something else. 

Chanyeol chose to ignore his words, and instead extended his hand to Baekhyun.

“Come with us to Titan, Baekhyun.” He asked, but his commanding tone told Baekhyun he wasn’t really asking. “We need you with us.”

Never, ever, in a million years or more, had Baekhyun imagined himself in this situation, he reckoned.

Guardians had always been a distant foreign race of sorts, who hardly gave him the time of the day until he proved himself in multiple occasions— even when he had only admired them, envied them, fawned over them. The scavenger had worked hard to earn himself the right to be seen by the likes of Lord Donghae, of CL, the Vanguard, the rest of the Hidden, and yet, he often found himself wondering how much of what he had accomplished was on his family’s renown alone.

Needed? Baekhyun had never felt needed. Had never told he’d been needed by anyone who wasn’t his parents or his brother. Maybe Taeyeon once. Maybe Kris, in a totally different context. And here he was, being told by not one, but two Guardians that they needed him to save the world. 

How could he say no?

He took Chanyeol’s hand and shook it, adding a gentle squeeze to what was the sealing on their alliance.

“Just don’t keep disappointing me, Guardian.” Baekhyun quipped, with a smirk that had no bite to it. Chanyeol winked at Baekhyun, returning the cheeky gesture from the kitchen to the scavenger, and surely, his cold dead heart would burst out from his chest in excitement any moment now. 

“I’m not planning to.” Chanyeol retorted playfully, but it sounded like a promise.

The Light was blooming affection.

If any of the other Guardians had any reservations or qualms left about Baekhyun joining them, they didn’t mention them when Chanyeol announced during their lunch he would come with them. Only Yeongja huffed, enjoying her last moments of being free of motherhood duties —having D.O as a babysitter had been like a vacation for her from little Taehyung— as she rolled her eyes.

“You say it like there was any other option or possibility,” She complained. “Even if ever since you got here, we’ve called you Baekhyun and The Guardians.”

“I dig that name,” Baekhyun chimed in. “We should start a band.”

“I don’t dig that name.” D.O countered, feeding eggs to Taehyung. If he hadn’t been holding his nephew, Baekhyun would’ve kicked the man. It was better if he didn’t physically try to assault D.O, anyway— out of the whole bunch, it seemed like the black-haired Titan was the one who mistrusted Baekhyun the most –because of Baekhyun’s own doing, too— and if they were going to be fighting together, he couldn’t have that.

He was convinced the Guardian didn’t like him, out of their little conversation back the first day in the farm, out of how hard it was to speak to him, and out of how he had sent Chanyeol after Baekhyun in the forest. All of that made it all the more surprising, when making it into the hangar, D.O declared, “Kai and I are riding with Baekhyun.”

Kai looked up at the mention of his name. He shrugged, seemingly used to just being dragged, and gave Baekhyun a thumbs up.

“I’m riding with Baekhyun, too.” Chanyeol added, and oh boy, this was going to be a long trip. “That makes four of us on the Häkke, right?” 

“Then I’ll take Sehun and Tao in the Arrowhawk.” Chen suggested.

“You sure all of you wanna head out with me?” Baekhyun asked, a bit nervous. “The Vimana is still really smelly.”

“The Arrowhawk is too small for more than three people, and it’s gonna be a tight fit,” Chen retorted. “It’s a long way to Titan. Häkke Vimanas are huge. They can take a little smelliness.”

The Häkke Vimana _was_ huge. And it didn’t even smell that bad anymore, after a fortnight of airing it out— still bad, though. Baekhyun just sighed and agreed.

“It is a long trip, though,” Baekhyun commented. “We should make at least one stop somewhere. I suggest the Tangled Shore, because I have business there. And we should be… Protected.” He wrinkled his nose. “Or at least, I think so. Maybe.” 

Chen chuckled good-naturedly.

“You thinking so will have to be enough, I think,” The Warlock replied. “Of all places Cabal may be stalking in the system, I bet they’re not touching the Tangled Shore with a ten feet pole.” 

“What’s in the Tangled Shore?” Sehun wondered aloud. 

“It’s completely Fallen territory.” Baekhyun explained, and upon Sehun’s worried frown, he made finger guns at him. “But it’s the kind of Fallen that you can work with! Or. Some of them are. Look, I know a guy.” 

The farewell was akin to the welcoming they had received, back they had arrived at the farm. Baekhyun wasn’t feeling devastated now— he felt melancholic, however. When Taeyeon approached him, she saw it written all over his face, and laughed. 

“Baekyoong,” She called him, but it was sweet and kind, like she always was. “Wasn’t this exactly what you wanted?”

He smiled at her, innocent as he could feign and eyes twinkling. 

“I could never want to leave you, Taeng.” He flirted, because it was second nature to him when it came to her, even if it was an empty sentiment. Once, he had thought she was the love of his life. She had always known the love of his life was adventure and told him so repeatedly— even as he made fun of her for saying such a cliché thing.

It wasn’t like he was lying. Taeyeon and Tiffany were family now. He had never liked being away from his family. She was right, though. This had been exactly what he had always wanted. The woman before him caressed his cheek, and then kissed it like she had when they had called their relationship quits. A goodbye.

“Kyoong,” Taehyung said when he went to say bye to Yeongja and the toddler. He made grabby hands at his nephew, and tickled him with a shout, and Taehyung doubled over in laughter, Yeongja struggling to keep him in her arms. 

“Careful, Baekhyunnie!” She exclaimed, and when Taehyung settled in her hold once more, she repeated herself more softly. “Please. Careful, Baekhyunnie.”

“You say it like I’m never careful.” He answered, and Yeongja rolled her eyes. He chuckled and went in for a double hug, which Taehyung returned happily— so did Yeongja, to the best of her abilities. “Take care of my nephew for me. I’ll bring him a nice present when I come back.” 

“You say it like I never take care of him.” Yeongja shot back. “Do come back soon.”

And lastly, there was Baekbeom. Both brothers hugged tightly, the elder lingering, and when Baekhyun looked up to him, there were tears in his only visible eye.

“Hey, no!” Baekhyun pleaded. “Don’t cry! If you cry, I’ll never leave.”

“Then I will cry rivers.” Baekbeom decided, a single tear indeed rolling down his cheek. Baekhyun laughed wetly, and just hugged his brother again. His brother whispered in his ear. “I love you. I wish peace was enough for you.”

Baekhyun squeezed. “I love you, too.”

Baekbeom ruffled his hair as he let go, wiping his face. “Be safe out there, Baekhyunnie.”

Secretly, Baekhyun realised this could be the last time he would see his family in this life. It didn’t stop him from getting into the Häkke Vimana, followed by three Titans, closing the door, and flying away with an Arrowhawk tailing him without looking back.

Chanyeol sat next to him on the co-pilot’s seat, leaving D.O and Kai to fumble with the emergency seats on the back, uncomfortable as they were. The blond Titan put a hand over Baekhyun’s shoulder, squeezing it gently.

“You okay?” 

Baekhyun merely nodded. “Hey, this ship is a piece of shit. It’s gonna be a rough journey.”

The Light was sacrifice.

Leaving the atmosphere was very rough indeed, because Baekhyun was right— the Häkke Vimana was a piece of shit. Once they were out of it and away from Earth, though, the flight was silent and even a little solemn.

Baekhyun hated every single moment of the fifteen minutes he endured of it. He sighed dramatically, catching Chanyeol’s eye from next to him. The Titan smiled.

“Are you bored already?” He asked.

“I will literally die if we don’t talk,” The grey-haired scavenger replied seriously, earning a chuckle from Chanyeol. “So let’s talk literally about anything.” 

From the back of the Häkke Vimana, Kai groaned. He was lying on the floor of the ship, with his Ghost Monggu resting over his chest.

“Can’t we sleep instead?” He suggested. “That lunch was really big. I need a nap to digest everything.”

“How could you possibly suggest that we sleep when I’m literally flying you and can’t sleep?” Baekhyun exclaimed, offended.

“If you’re feeling tired, we can take turns to fly. The Tangled Shore is ten hours away.” D.O offered quietly. Baekhyun sighed even more dramatically than before.

“I’m not tired yet! Seriously, what’s so wrong with talking for a little while?” Baekhyun countered. “I mean, I have music, but even after ten hours that can get old. And I’ve been hearing it for _ages_.” 

Chanyeol scoffed. “There’s no such thing as music getting old. And there’s no way you have heard all of the music ever made by Humanity, either.”

“Do I look like a Warmind to you?” Baekhyun questioned. “I don’t have access to all of the music ever made by Humanity.”

“Knowing you and all of your _advantages_ ,” D.O snarked, although his voice was plain, “Maybe you _do_ have access to all of the music ever made by Humanity.”

“I want to say it too,” Kai chimed in, sleepily. “‘All of the music ever made by Humanity’.”

Baekhyun and Chanyeol laughed, and D.O maybe chuckled. With the ice effectively broken, Baekhyun wiggled in his seat to be comfortable enough to talk.

“So, you have strong opinions about music.” Baekhyun addressed Chanyeol. “Were you a musician in your past life?”

Toben made a stern sound before Chanyeol answered. “Baekhyun, you know that’s not something we’re supposed to discuss.”

“Does it really matter?” D.O asked the Ghost.

“You tell me,” Baekhyun couldn’t help but to blurt out, the curiosity lacing his voice. “You have a fake name to hide your real name, don’t you? No mother would call her child _D.O_.”

D.O hummed. “I do. It’s just out of respect to other Guardians that don’t remember anything.”

“Me, for example!” Chanyeol cracked cheerfully, for someone who didn’t have any recollection of his previous life. “So to answer your question, I have no idea if I was a musician. I only knew that my name was Chanyeol Park because my grave said so.” 

Baekhyun gasped. “You were literally raised from the grave?! That’s so awesome! Toben, I would’ve never something so metal from you. Kudos!”

Toben grumbled, “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, you know,” Baekhyun started, but left Toben hanging by turning to Chanyeol with a grin. “Did your grave say anything else?”

Chanyeol shook his head. “Just the years I lived. Which may be why I don’t remember anything at all— I lived from 1966 to 1992, and only got rezz’ed like, what? Five years ago, Toben?” 

“Almost.” Toben answered.

Baekhyun gawked. “1966? That’s like— pre-Golden Age, even! Pre-Traveller for sure.”

Chanyeol nodded, with a half-smile. “It’s definitely pre-mankind-arriving-at-Mars. But we got to the Moon for the first time when I was supposed to be three years old.”

“Huh,” Baekhyun let out. “I wonder what kind of life you lead before you died. You died pretty young.”

The Titan just shrugged. “Didn't we all? It doesn’t really keep me up at night.” 

“What about you, guys?” Baekhyun asked, raising his voice so he would be heard in the back. “What’s your story, D.O and Kai?” 

D.O raised an eyebrow at Baekhyun, while Kai opened his eyes lazily at the scavenger.

“Why should I tell you?” The older Titan wondered. “You don’t need more _advantage_ over me.”

Baekhyun laughed. “Okay, that’s good that you haven’t forgotten that.”

Chanyeol alternated between the both of them, confused. “What are you guys talking about?”

“It's an inside joke. Let’s make a deal,” Baekhyun proposed, just winking at Chanyeol conspiratorially. “You tell me your story, and I show you my advantage. We need to trust each other, after all. Let’s put all bad blood behind us.”

D.O almost smirked at Baekhyun. Enough time with the Titan had taught Baekhyun he was mostly shy and awkward, even if he was rather fierce at the same time. “Alright. Even though there wasn’t any bad blood between us.”

“I have nothing to hide,” Kai assured him, and closed his eyes again. “But D.O goes first.” 

The black-haired Titan stretched in his seat. “Where to start… My real name is Kyungsoo Do. That’s where I got the D.O from. I used to be an—” 

“—An actor.” Baekhyun interrupted, and D.O’s— no, _Kyungsoo’s_ eyes widened.

“How did you know that?” 

“In Old America,” Baekhyun began explaining, turning his head to look at the Titan like he was a completely different person, eyes just as wide. “In Las Vegas. I was doing recon once, not even that long ago. There was a movie poster on the street, and it’s really bleached, but it said that name somewhere. I remember reading it.” 

Kyungsoo frowned at him, but with an awkward smile. “Why did you remember that name, out of all of them?”

Baekhyun shrugged, eyebrows raised as he turned his whole seat to face Kyungsoo and Kai. Chanyeol made an instant grab for the controls of the Häkke Vimana, shouting without words. 

“I don’t know! It just made an impression.” Baekhyun admitted, amazed. “I’m really starting to believe destiny _is_ a thing.” 

“Maybe it is.” Kyungsoo agreed. He paused, and then spoke up again. “Anyway, my career was just starting to branch out— I was from Old Korea originally, and was just starting to make American movies. But then the Collapse happened, and I might’ve survived for a few weeks longer at most. That part is mostly blurry, though. I think starvation or dehydration got to me.”

“That’s so sad.” Baekhyun commented. “Hey, can I call you Kyungsoo now? I’m already doing it in my head, anyway.” 

Kyungsoo smiled and nodded. In the light of these new facts, Baekhyun could see how handsome the Titan was— definitely actor material. Nowadays, movies were a scarce thing, with the people of the Last City preferring street plays and performances.

“Okay, Kai,” The scavenger urged. “It’s your turn, now. Who were you?”

Kai grabbed the resting Monggu gently from his chest, and rolled his body over, so he was lying on his stomach. “I was a ballet dancer, around the same time, in the Salle Le Peletier. My name was Jongin Kim. But that’s really as far as I get. I got all that because I was found by Monggu in that theatre, and I found a pamphlet with me in it. Now all I remember if I try is dancing.”

“That is just beautiful, though,” Baekhyun commended. “Can you still dance, Jongin?” 

If Jongin cared about the name, he didn’t show it. He just smirked at Baekhyun, somewhat coy.

“Ask D— Kyungsoo that.” The young Titan teased, and the former actor turned beet red in a second. Baekhyun snickered. 

“I didn’t know you both were some type of artists,” Chanyeol commented thoughtfully. “No wonder you get along so well when you have that in common. That, and offing other Guardians in the Crucible.” 

Kyungsoo glared at Chanyeol, while Jongin merely laughed. “The Crucible is a perfectly respectable way to train. It’s not my fault you’re just too soft to kill your own friends.”

“Wow,” Baekhyun intoned, grinning at Chanyeol as he turned back to the steering controls of the ship, taking it from the blond Titan. “Imagine being told off for being _too soft to kill your own friends_.” 

Chanyeol burst into loud pearls of laughter, which included slaps to the dashboard. Jongin soon joined in on the laughter, while Kyungsoo just blushed more deeply, but he was definitely smiling a little.

“Okay,” The black-haired man admitted, “That came out wrong.” 

Jongin just laughed harder. Baekhyun couldn’t see, but he figured he had dropped Monggu, who let out a groan, as he woke up. 

“What’s happening?” The Ghost asked blearily.

“Baekhyun was asking us about our lives before being Guardians, so now it’s his turn to share,” Chanyeol told the Ghost. Still sort of laughing, Chanyeol grinned at Baekhyun. “Tell us about you now!”

“I’m still waiting on that advantage reveal.” Kyungsoo added.

“What is there to tell?” Baekhyun asked. “I’m twenty-seven. You know I’m a scavenger. You know my whole family. Kyungsoo, get my datapad from the duffel bag. Don’t touch the guns, nor the cube, nor the Ghosts parts. Especially the cube.” 

Kyungsoo groaned in disgust. “Why do you keep Ghosts parts?” Regardless of his complaint, he did move towards the bag and started rummaging through it. “Are they the ones you picked up from Burning Sun’s bodies?”

“I want to know more about you,” Chanyeol said sincerely, ignoring Kyungsoo. “You’re an interesting guy. And you’re funny. And you’re sweet, even if you don’t seem to like people to think so.”

While heat rose up Baekhyun’s neck, who steadily avoided Chanyeol’s gaze, Jongin cleared his throat. “You could be more subtle, Chanyeol. What I wanna know about Baekhyun Byun though— what’s the deal with you and that girl, Taeyeon?”

Baekhyun missed the way Chanyeol scowled, focusing on Kyungsoo’s “found it!” instead.

“You wanna open that and open the application with the Vanguard symbol,” He instructed. “The decryption key is— are you ready? It’s seven three, X, K, five, V two, P G, one, dollar sign, B B H, hyphen six five nine.”

Kyungsoo grumbled his acknowledgement, typing it slowly. Baekhyun used the down time to answer Jongin’s question.

“Taeyeon is an old flame, as they say,” He explained. “Thought I’d marry her once, but I’m not that kind of guy, really. Fortunately, she saw that before I did, and now she’s like a sister to me.” 

“What happened?” Chanyeol asked, but he sounded more serious than before. Baekhyun looked at him just to smirk at him playfully.

“Well, among other things, in case you didn’t notice,” He drawled out, “Taeng turned out to like girls better. And I liked guys better.”

Chanyeol totally choked, red in the face and ears. Jongin practically cackled at him once more, while Baekhyun continued on smirking smugly.

“Holy shit!” Kyungsoo suddenly exclaimed loudly. Jongin immediately got up, and Chanyeol glanced over at him, glad to have someone to stare at that wasn’t Baekhyun, probably. Baekhyun’s smirk only grew. 

“What did you find, Kyungsoo Do?” The scavenger questioned teasingly. Kyungsoo had gotten up, and in two short steps, he was right behind Baekhyun, tablet in hand. He punched Baekhyun’s shoulder harshly, who cried out in pain. “Hey!”

“These are intelligence logs.” Kyungsoo responded to his question, with big eyes. “These are Vanguard Jongok’s intelligence logs. You have a decryption key. You’re a Hidden.” 

“There goes my advantage, right?” Baekhyun joked, still wincing. The Titan could swing that fist right. “But I guess now we’re even.”

The Light was a revelation.

Ten hours passed in a similar fashion. Upon learning of his spy status, the three Titans and their Ghosts had many questions, like how he had become one –“I’m fucking good at what I do, that’s how.”— and how long he had been one –“ever since I turned nineteen.”— and why was he so nonchalant about sharing it– “you won’t tell, will you?”. 

After that, Kyungsoo had meekly asked for permission to read through as many of the logs as he could. Baekhyun had allowed him to do so, because curiosity killed the cat anyway, but satisfaction brought it back. Ink, who had been hiding with his cloaking somewhere in the ship, had come out specially to read over Kyungsoo’s shoulder, interest peeked. 

Jongin had not been that enthused about them, probably much more of an action guy, yet still sat dutifully next to his boyfriend as he devoured each entry with his owlish eyes. Occasionally, Kyungsoo relayed aloud what he had found, if he figured Chanyeol or the other Ghosts would find it interesting as well. He asked Baekhyun many questions, too, mostly about his own entries and codenames he came across a bunch of times and couldn’t guess. 

It would keep the Titan happy and unassuming of the truth. Baekhyun reckoned it was a small price to pay, the tablet distracting Kyungsoo from the eerie cube, still sitting idly in Baekhyun’s duffel back. 

In the meantime, Chanyeol and he talked. The blond man was adamant in keeping Baekhyun entertained and attended to, to the point even the stern Toben joined in their conversation. When they were reaching almost five hours of travel, the Titan insisted on changing seats with Baekhyun, so he could rest.

Chanyeol had really wanted to get to know Baekhyun. He asked question after question, truly interested in everything that came out of Baekhyun’s mouth, even if it was something inane as his favourite colour. Chanyeol kept it light, mostly, though the scavenger found himself realising that if the Guardian asked, he would have revealed anything about himself— was it because his lonely ways had gotten to Baekhyun at last, and he was starved for this kind of attention? Or was it because of Chanyeol? 

It was strange how he was unable to reciprocate, however. Chanyeol had virtually no past, and he was reluctant to talk about his Guardian adventures— Toben much preferred that, boasting about his Titan whenever he could. Baekhyun still listened attentively, though, because he wanted to know just as much about Chanyeol. There was no point in holding back, when they were stuck in a ship for so long. 

And Chanyeol was a riot. He seemed to think Baekhyun was a riot, as well. Baekhyun hadn’t laughed that hard in a really long time.

It was enough to forget their apocalyptic circumstances. Enough to forget the Red Legion. Enough to forget his guilt. Enough to forget about Mercury. Enough to forget about the infection spreading within Baekhyun. Even if only for a few hours.

The Tangled Shore was an asteroid wasteland within the asteroid wasteland Baekhyun already considered the Reef to be, connected among each other hazardously with large cables and grappling hooks. It was a lawless land— or rather, a land with no legitimate law. 

Thieves’ Landing seemed deserted when they arrived upon it. Baekhyun knew that of course this wasn’t the case and told the Guardians as much.

“The Fallen always watch,” He warned them. “But as long as you just stay near the Vimana, they won’t touch you.”

“Why not?” Sehun asked, his never-ending curiosity showing once more. Baekhyun patted the lilac and red metal of his craft. 

“They’ll recognise the colours as mine. They’re very into colour coding.” He explained. Most of the Guardians were too tired to ask, although he knew at least Chen knew exactly what went down in a spot like this.

Tao’s nose was scrunched up in clear contempt for having to lie down on the cold hard rocks. He was freezing, rubbing his arms up and down gingerly as he took a look around. 

“I don’t understand why we couldn’t go directly into the Reef,” The Warlock complained. “I was an ally to the late Awoken Queen. They still respect me. I bet the Vestian Outposts are open to us.” 

“Are they?” Baekhyun wondered. “The Awoken are cunning at best, traitorous at worst. If I were them, I wouldn’t offer refuge to a different race that are in the middle of a war, unless they were clearly on the winning side. We’re definitely _not_ clearly into the winning side.” 

Tao sniffed, but didn’t argue. 

“You guys settle down for the night.” Baekhyun said then, and he began walking away. 

“Wait, Baekhyun!” Chanyeol called, instantly concerned. “Where are you going?!” 

“To make a peace offering!” He yelled back, although he didn’t stop walking, towards a large Eliksni building that marked the headquarters of the Spider and his Fallen. Every lie he didn't have to tell was a weight off his chest. If they wanted to pass unscathed, Baekhyun had to give something to the man –or well, maybe he was a Marauder— running the place. He had just the thing. 

Heavy footsteps running towards him surprised him. He turned quickly, expecting to find Chanyeol, yet found Chen in his stead— even if the Titan was watching them from afar.

“Hey,” The Warlock greeted with a cat-like smile. “It’s not really safe to go alone, don’t you think?”

Baekhyun shrugged. Kept walking, now with Chen by his side.

“Come here often?” The brunet asked, as a way to make conversation. Baekhyun snorted, but it wasn’t an unkind sound. He nodded. The Warlock hummed. 

“I suppose it is your kind of _venue,_ ” Chen remarked. “It looks peaceful— even pretty, if you think about it, in its own twisted way. But then again, it is twisted, and it’s unpredictable. Just like you!” 

Baekhyun made a face. “Is that supposed to be a compliment? Also, did you bring Pepper with you?” 

“Nah, she stayed back.” Chen answered. “It’s not like she can help us much. Plus— I’m quite aware of the Tangled Shore’s Only Law’s fascination with creatures like her. I’m not risking her for nothing.”

Baekhyun chuckled. “Well, well, well. No wonder you followed me. Although I suppose this kind of venue also suits _you_.”

“What can I say?” Chen sighed, still smiling, the corners of his mouth curled up. “The Spider’s a powerful ally to have. Even if he’s not a… Savoury one. Pepper hates him.” 

“I’ve heard you’re not usually into savoury things,” Baekhyun reflected. “How does your Ghost like you being a Thanatonaut?”

Chen laughed freely at being called out.

“She hates that, too,” Chen confessed easily. “But she loves me. And she understands that the insights I gain are important to me. So it works out.”

They were almost to the building, by now. There were two Fallen Dregs standing with their spiky armours by the entrance of it— the first ones visible to them. Still, neither Dreg made a move towards attacking them. 

“You were pretty jealous about Sehun’s vision, I suppose.” Baekhyun acknowledged. Chen shook his head, groaning, but it was still somewhat friendly and amused.

“Nothing goes past you, does it, Baekhyun Byun?” The Guardian asked with amusement. He added, “Yes. I am very jealous, but I can’t hold that against Sehun. The Traveller has always chosen whoever it wants, even if to us it might make no sense.”

“Since you’re so into killing yourself for _insights_ ,” Baekhyun changed the subject, as they nodded to the Fallen guards, who barely even spared them a glance. Both of them seemed to be regulars, who knew he’d have _this_ in common with Chen. “I guess you can tell me what’s your real name, right?”

Chen guffawed once more, his voice echoing through the empty halls. They had to go down. The Fallen often liked to be underground, and the Spider was no exception. They could hear an ancient tune far away, and they followed it without exchanging a word about it. 

“Why would I tell you that?”

“I’ll have you know I got D.O and Kai to admit it to me after only twenty minutes in a ship together,” Baekhyun countered. “I am a very persuasive man.”

“Ah,” Chen said. “Well, _Kyungsoo and Jongin_ have never cared much about that. It’s only about respect, for them.”

Baekhyun side-eyed the Warlock, making the other man laugh yet again.

They had reached the Spider’s office. The large Fallen was suspended in a luxurious hammock throne, flanked by his guarding Dregs, admiring a small device which was producing the music they had followed. He hardly spared them a glance, absorbed instead by the object in two of his four hands.

“If it isn’t the Kingslayer and Devil’s Bane himself,” The Spider said for a greeting, in that low growl of a voice he had, toying with the machine, the music suddenly stopping. Baekhyun realised it was some sort of music box, when the kingpin began winding it up, and it began playing once more. “Accompanying no other than the Skulking Fox. It is much interesting, to see such dear _friends_ together. And dragging along such a rag tag fireteam with you, no less.” 

“Spider,” Baekhyun greeted, with a flourish of a bow. Chen stood still, merely smiling slightly. “I suppose you’ve heard the news.”

“But of course,” The Spider answered. “The Traveller has fallen to Dominus Ghaul. The Ghost Primus. Humanity is lost, and the Eliksni are to rise to the opportunity. Which is why I was most surprised to see Guardians wander straight into Eliksni territory when they so could easily die.”

“We’re merely passing through.” Chen spoke up calmly.

“Oh?” The Spider uttered. “Passing through to where?”

“Pass to Pluto and beyond,” Chen replied without even batting an eye. “We’re running away, of course. And we’re here to ask for your protection for the night.”

The Spider was silent at first. Then, he began laughing, and it was a harsh, guttural sound that filled the room. 

“Guardians running away,” The mob boss echoed in his own words, cruelly amused. “And asking for my protection in my Shore. Of course.” 

Delicately, the Fallen closed the music box, effectively shutting it up. He turned his four bright turquoise eyes to the pair of humans, almost bored.

“My dear friends,” He began in a saccharine tone, “You must know by now my protection has a price.”

Baekhyun nodded. “That’s why we come bearing gifts.”

From his pockets, he produced the three dead Ghosts he had collected in Las Vegas. The bounty interested the Fallen mob boss instantly, who leaned forward with thinly veiled excitement.

“Baekhyun Byun, Skulking Fox,” The Spider called. “Come closer.”

Hesitantly, Baekhyun stepped closer. He half-expected the large, claw-like hand that grabbed onto the back of his hooded poncho, but he still flinched, nearly dropping the Ghosts in the process. 

“Look up, child.” The Spider commanded, and Baekhyun did.

The face of the Fallen was terribly close— the closest Baekhyun had ever had to been to the creature. He felt Chen tense behind him, perhaps hand readying for his gun, but it was futile, with so many guards around. The Warlock had to know that.

The scavenger and the mob boss locked eyes. Turquoise stared into brown mixed with stars for what felt like an eternity, until the Spider was satisfied. However, he didn’t let go of Baekhyun. 

“Tell me, Byun, and do not lie,” The Spider ordered. “How did you catch the Darkness in such a way?” 

So much for hiding the infection from the Guardians. Chen drew in an audible breath. When the scavenger didn’t immediately answer, the Spider continued. 

“It’s quite advanced,” He commented idly, as if discussing the weather. “The stars in your eyes tell me so. And yet you seem perfectly sane, still.”

“Well,” Baekhyun began, “You know how Luna is. I only had to let my guard down for a moment, and there was… An accident. The Darkness wasn’t kind enough to let me die then.”

“Of course not.” The Spider acquiesced. “The process of drowning in the Deep is slow and tortuous. And you are a sly little thing, my dear friend.”

Baekhyun nodded.

“The only way to stop the Darkness from spreading is the Light.” The Spider said, as if Baekhyun didn’t know. Maybe he was saying it for Chen’s benefit. “But my Skulking Fox, you are but a mortal. And your Traveller has been dead for a long time.”

“I will surely join it soon,” Baekhyun acknowledged, almost managing to seem unaffected. “It’s my last, desperate wish to help these Guardians not suffer the same fate. Do you think it’s foolish?” 

The Spider laughed once more. It was not a kind laugh.

“Very foolish, indeed.” The kingpin agreed. “You are reckless, but not foolish. Something has been promised to you. A way out. Perhaps— an ennead, as they say—” 

Baekhyun didn’t answer. He offered the dead Ghosts once more to the Spider, daring to touch the Fallen with them.

“Take them,” He said instead. “Don’t make me show you what the Darkness can do, my dear friend. We wish you no harm.” 

The Spider scoffed, as if Baekhyun was making a ridiculous threat. Maybe it was. It didn’t stop the creature from swiping the Ghosts from Baekhyun’s hands, and letting him go, pulling him back and away from him. 

Baekhyun realised his hands were shaking, as he stepped next to Chen. The Guardian looked sombre but didn’t look at Baekhyun— his eyes stayed on the Spider, who was examining the Ghosts with the same glee a child in the morning of the Dawning would scrutinise their presents. 

“Oh, Baekhyun Byun, how I love the trinkets you bring me.” The Spider seemed to either lament or praise. “How I love how careless Guardians can be with their precious gifts of immortality.”

Four bright turquoise eyes were settled on them then.

“You may stay right where you are for the night,” The Spider announced, and both Chen and he relaxed. “Now get out, before I change my mind, and deliver the Guardian who got their Light back to the Dominus myself. He would come with a sizeable price tag, wouldn’t he?” 

Baekhyun’s heart was seized with fear, a flash of Sehun’s face going through his mind. He practically ran out of the room and up the stairs, Chen following closely behind. 

“Goodbye, Kingslayer! Goodbye, Skulking Fox!” The Spider’s low voice echoed through the halls. “May we make business together again, if the Darkness doesn’t get to you first.”

The Light was protection— was it protection?

“It’s Jongdae.”

“What?” Baekhyun asked, not quite catching what Chen had said to him. They had been walking back to their camp in a deafening silence. Baekhyun’s mind was running a hundred miles per hour— the Spider had seen right through him. Chen had heard it all. Chen _knew_. Or at least part of it. He could connect it all, if he tried. 

“Jongdae,” Chen repeated himself. “That’s my real name.”

Baekhyun could barely muster a frown. Jongdae was staring at Baekhyun with something akin to pity, and the scavenger found that he didn’t like it.

“Why are you telling me?”

“I saw it in my… Insights.” The Warlock continued, as if Baekhyun hadn’t spoken. “I didn’t know it when I was reborn. Xiumin was the one who named me Chen. And he was the one that suggested I searched for who I used to be.”

“Who did you use to be?” Baekhyun humoured him. Admittedly, it intrigued him, despite his foul mood.

Jongdae smiled bitterly at him.

“I was a scavenger,” He declared. “From a nomad tribe outside of the City. So, I suppose we’re more similar than we’d think.”

“I suppose it does explain why you’re so into shady business,” Baekhyun joked. “Like a true _collector_.”

Jongdae laughed at the word and how spitefully Baekhyun said it, although it was subdued.

“Do you want to know what my death was like?” Jongdae asked.

“I have the feeling you will tell me anyway.” Baekhyun retorted.

The Guardian nodded. “Wolves killed me in the mountains. Tore me apart and then ate me for dinner. But I was already sick. Weakened. Life was harsh. I fought until the very last minute I could.”

It was now Baekhyun who was pitying Jongdae. “That must’ve been an unpleasant memory to regain.”

The brunet nodded. “The point of me telling you this isn’t my suffering, though. Or it is, only in the sense that it can relate to yours.”

“What do you mean?” They were approaching the camp. Vivi and Sehun must’ve started a Light-induced fire that the other Guardians were surrounding. Chanyeol stood up from the ground, sticking out, tall as he was, but only watching them. Baekhyun’s heart ached. 

“I mean to say I’m sorry,” Jongdae answered with regret. “I’m sorry for not helping you when I actually could. I’m sorry for doubting you. I followed you because I thought you’d betray us, even after allowing us into your home without any condition.”

Baekhyun opened his mouth to protest, but Jongdae didn’t allow him to say anything. He was staring right into Baekhyun’s eyes now, searching. “I know now you’re just as invested as we are— and I promise you, Baekhyun. We will regain the Traveller, the Light, and we will heal you. I will protect you.” 

It was a big promise. It filled Baekhyun’s heavy heart with hope, though, much to his chagrin.

He would’ve hugged Jongdae, but before he got a chance to say anything at all, the Warlock passed him in a rush, to reach the camp and claim a spot by Kyungsoo. He looked uncomfortable— feelings probably bothered him. Baekhyun smiled. It was another thing they had in common.

Speaking of feelings. Chanyeol had grown tired of waiting for him it seemed, as the scavenger took his time reaching the group himself. He took long strides to reach him, concerned. 

“Where did you go?” Chanyeol demanded to know, although it was gentle. “I know to trust you, now, but I was— we were worried. Even if Chen was with you.” 

“I went to buy us protection,” Baekhyun replied. “Come on, I’ll tell you all about it.”

The Light was forgiveness, perhaps. If he could begin being completely honest.

The fireteam hardly spoke beyond Jongdae and Baekhyun’s retelling of their encounter with the Spider. They were all tired from their travels, and even if Sehun, Tao, and even Jongin were interested in learning about the crime syndicate that ran deep within the Tangled Shore.

When it was time to call it a night, though, Tao begged for a story. 

“Please, Baekhyun,” He pleaded. “One of your Guardian stories. One we don’t know. I won’t sleep otherwise— I’m just too nervous.”

“We all are.” Kyungsoo added, and there were mumbles of exhausted agreement throughout. Baekhyun chuckled. 

“I can tell you a story of what came before the Guardians,” He suggested, unconsciously leaning his body against Chanyeol’s side. When he realised what he had done, he didn’t straighten up, blaming it on the fatigue in his bones. Chanyeol didn’t move, either. “So you know that we’ve survived without the Light before.” 

“Okay,” Tao conceded. “Just tell it, please.”

Baekhyun cleared his throat.

“This is the story of Ayane Takanome,” He declared. “And her Rangers.”

When he was certain he had the attention of the group, he began: “Ayane Takanome was no Guardian. Ayane was born during the Dark Age, in the mountains that surround the Last City— back then, there was no City, of course. There was only the Traveller, and the pilgrims who guessed maybe the Traveller could still protect them. Ayane was no Guardian, but she was a fighter.” 

Tao smiled at the idea. He closed his eyes. Baekhyun couldn’t help but following suit, leaning his head on Chanyeol’s steady shoulder. 

“Armed with snipers and with cloaks, Ayane had gathered a group of warriors like her— the Rangers. And decided that they, the legendary Takanome Rangers, would make it their mission to protect all the refugees who came looking for the City and for the Traveller, whether it was from the Fallen, the Hive, or even other people like them.”

Chanyeol hummed, the vibration making Baekhyun tremble slightly. Yet, he continued.

“The Takanome Rangers managed to secure every road that lead to the City. But they weren’t Guardians— and they didn’t even know what Guardians were, yet. They called you Risen, instead, because you had risen from the dead.” Baekhyun sighed. “Death. Ayane and her Rangers knew death would come for them eventually, and they wouldn’t be able to show the way for others, then.”

“This is not very hopeful, so far.” Baekhyun heard Sehun comment, and then wheeze as someone kicked him. Baekhyun snickered. 

“Be patient, Sehunnie,” He chided, and continued without missing a beat. “The Rangers knew they had to do something. They couldn’t avoid death, but they could preserve their memory, and guide the pilgrims and refugees to the Traveller. They planted blue flowers across every road, so people could follow those into the Last City when the Rangers were gone.”

He paused, trying to recall the exact quote. He breathed out.

“‘Follow the blue flowers to the City’, Ayane said. ‘And know that even if the planter is dead, they still watch over you’.”

“That’s beautiful.” Chanyeol whispered. Baekhyun opened his eyes, and found the Titan watching him intently.

“Eventually, the Risen became the Guardians, and there was no need for the Rangers. They disbanded, Ayane long dead. The flowers though, still remain, much like Ayane Takanome’s memory, and you can find them in the mountains and make your way into the City from as far as the EDZ itself.” Baekhyun concluded, feeling as if he was only telling the story to Chanyeol. “Ayane Takanome is nothing but a myth, now. No one knows if she was real. But the blue flowers are there, still.”

The solemn moment was broken by Baekhyun once more making jazz hands. 

“The end!” He exclaimed cheerfully. This time, it only got him laughs, rather than calls for a more ‘climatic’ end.

“Maybe it is a myth,” Tao mused as he drifted into sleep. “Because that’s a very sweet ending.”

“I don’t think it’s a myth.” Chanyeol told Baekhyun only, quietly, his deep voice rumbling against Baekhyun’s back. “I’ve seen those flowers. Toben and I followed them, when I first came into the City.” 

Baekhyun smiled at him warmly. 

“I know it’s not a myth,” He said through a yawn that was spread to Chanyeol. “My family was part of the Rangers before you guys took our jobs.” 

The Light was a bedtime story.

By what had to be six in the morning in the EDZ, Baekhyun and the Guardians were already on the move. It was an additional eight hours to Saturn’s oceanic moon. This time, it was Tao and Sehun who travelled in the Häkke Vimana with him— Chanyeol had decided to stick around, claiming to be too tall for the Arrowhawk. Never mind that Tao and Sehun were as nearly as tall as him, and so was Jongin. 

“I really, really can’t wait to see Suho.” Tao admitted with excitement, when they had been travelling for four hours, and Chanyeol had convinced Baekhyun to let him fly for the rest of the way. 

The scavenger was pretty sure they had cuddled last night. Neither of them acknowledged it when they woke up in exactly the same position they had fallen asleep in, though, even if Baekhyun was sure Chanyeol’s arm had to be absolutely numb. 

“Oh yeah,” Baekhyun replied to the Warlock. “He’s like your dad, right?”

Sehun snorted. “More like his mom. I’d say Guardian Kris is his dad.” 

Tao bristled.

“Don’t call them that!” He cried. Baekhyun mocked him by parroting him in an even whinier voice.

“Don’t call them that!”

Sehun and Chanyeol both burst out laughing. Tao just seemed like he didn’t want to, rolling his eyes with a hint of fondness. 

“Seriously, it’s not nice!” Tao insisted. “They’re very protective of me, sure. Because I am like— like—”

“—like their son?” Sehun suggested teasingly. 

“No!” Tao whined. Then, when he failed to find the words, sighed heavily. “Okay. Maybe a little bit. They’ve just— they’ve always been there for me. It’s nice to know I’m gonna get to be there for Suho soon. And I hope we find Kris soon, too.”

“Oh, we will,” Baekhyun swore darkly. “Who does that fucker think he is, leaving us hanging like that?” 

Chanyeol eyed him but said nothing.

It was idle chat throughout the rest of the journey. At some point, when they passed by the Dreadnaught and the halo of destruction it had brought in the middle of Saturn’s rings, Jongdae had called through the radio. 

“ _D.O –well, Kyungsoo, that cat’s out of the bag, I heard— Kyungsoo and I were remembering all the grand old times we had there, Chanyeol_ ,” The Warlock said cheekily. “ _And then all the times that came after. When Xiumin asked me to help him kill Alak-Hul_ —”

Chanyeol groaned. “Jongdae, please, Guardian Suho was also there. You were only there because Guardian Kris couldn’t make it.” 

Jongdae squawked. “ _I’ll have you know it meant I’m very capable as a Guardian_ —” 

“ _Next Darkblade you faced, you couldn’t even scratch. And it killed you._ ” Kyungsoo’s voice came through the comm as well. Jongdae’s voice only got louder with indignation. 

“ _You couldn’t scratch it either!_ ”

It made Baekhyun smile, despite the dark memories of their Las Vegas strike. Hearing them call each other by their real names so easily and right in front of him somehow meant like he was truly part of their fireteam, even if their base natures were so different. 

Baekhyun couldn’t wait to get to Titan.

He didn’t have to wait long. There was a storm when they roughly entered the atmosphere, and the waves where immense and scary— Baekhyun thought he saw an enormous shadow under them. He chose to focus instead on the decaying structures of the New Pacific Arcology— the most prominent of the Golden Age cities that had been abandoned in Titan. Suho and Lay surely had to be here.

Baekhyun turned on the radio, to broadcast a message.

“Vanguard Fleet: this is Civilian Ship six-five-nine and Guardian ship twenty-one-two,” He called into the radio, hoping it would still reach the Guardians in the New Pacific Arcology despite the heavy rain. “We received your beacon, and we’re ready to join the fight. Tell us where to land.”

The couple of minutes before someone answered were agonising. For some reason, Baekhyun felt his stomach sink with a bad feeling. 

Then, Lay’s soft voice came through.

“ _Baekhyun, is that you_?” The Hunter and fellow Hidden asked. 

“Yes, Lay,” Baekhyun answered. “And I’ve brought a collection of Guardians with me. All types of classes and subclasses.”

“ _You need to turn back_ ,” Lay said grimly. “ _It’s too late_.”

Chanyeol and Baekhyun exchanged a bewildered look. 

“ _Guardian Lay, if I may,_ ” Jongdae interjected. “ _We’re not leaving_.”

Tao jumped forward with anxiety practically dripping over his body. 

“Guardian Lay!” He called. “Is Suho alive? Is he with you?” 

“ _You really brought the whole party over, huh, Baekhyun._ ” Lay jested, without much enthusiasm. “ _I guess— yeah. Come on down. Scan for the Siren’s Watch, it’s where— it’s where we’re staying._ ”

This was highly irregular, Baekhyun thought. Still, Chanyeol and Jongdae both lead the Häkke Vimana and the Arrowhawk to the designated spot.

The air was tense as they were getting ready to leave the ships. Baekhyun fitted on his helmet, breathing in the oxygen slowly. Titan had not been terraformed by the Traveller, even if it had been colonised by Humanity. Its atmosphere was not friendly to any of them.

When their ships opened, Lay was standing there, waiting for them in his full Hunter attire in the glacial colours he had always liked so much. He was unreadable, since they couldn’t see his face, and hardly hear him through the storm.

“Send those ships to the atmosphere! They’re not safe here!” He informed them. Safe from whom? Titan was supposed to be empty. 

He wasn’t about to question Lay. He could remotely send the Häkke Vimana to fly idly in hibernation mode, so it wouldn’t waste fuel. Jongdae and Pepper did the same with the Arrowhawk, cloaking it as well. When Lay was satisfied, instead of screaming through the rain that was drenching them all, he just motioned them to follow him. 

The building they were led in was torn half-open, meaning it was still unsafe for them to remove their helmets. Lay didn’t turn to talk to them as he took them deeper and deeper, and no one dared to really talk.

He had brought them to a decontamination room. It was still operational, it seemed. Once it was shut, and they could all remove their helmets, Lay did the same. 

The Guardian looked worse for wear. 

“Guardian Lay,” Chanyeol spoke up first, at last. “We came here to help Commander Suho and whatever forces you’ve gathered.”

“I see that.” Lay replied. He didn’t look cheerful, even when he smiled at them. “Commander Suho, huh? My nomination was taken seriously.” 

“By Lord Donghae himself.” Baekhyun responded. Lay chuckled, but it was a sad sound. He moved to the pad by the door, so they could make it further in— hopefully, to Suho at last.

Baekhyun wasn’t sure what he expected. He certainly wasn’t expecting a dejected Titan Suho, sitting against actual— was that Hive gunk? The room was filled with the vile stuff. Even with the oxygen, the smell was strong and Baekhyun gagged.

Suho looked up. He was a small Titan, much like Kyungsoo, dwarfed by the size of his armour. It was red and white— proud. Decorated with a lion. His hair was a dark brown, and a total mess. He was a mess.

“Someone came.” He said in disbelief. His eyes widened when he saw Tao among them. “Tao!” 

“Suho!” The Warlock mumbled, moving towards their de facto Commander as if to hug him. But the depressing aura of the man held him off, like it was holding them all off. “Where… Where is everyone?”

Suho somehow managed to look grimmer still. 

“Dead.” 

“What do you mean, dead?” Jongin blurted.

“They’re dead,” Suho repeated himself, unable to look at them in the eyes. “Titan… It’s been overrun by the Hive. I was a fool for thinking they wouldn’t spread this far. And the Fallen— they followed us. We’ve been decimated.”

“All that’s left is us, and Gayeon Song. And she’s nearly gone, too.” Lay added. He pointed to a corner, where indeed, the young female Titan was lying, unconscious among the wormy remains of Hive. Her Ghost was on top of her, clearly drained.

“Whatever resistance we had,” Suho finally declared, “It’s over.” 

Baekhyun gasped. For a moment, he thought the Darkness would finish consuming him right then and there. Had they really come all this way for only three Lightless Guardians? Even two as capable as Lay and Suho, what would this mean? 

Baekhyun shook his head vigorously. They had an edge.

“No,” He retorted. “It’s not over.”

Sehun knew his own cue by now. He called gently for Vivi, as he stepped closer to Gayeon. This time, his display was way less dramatic. He deployed Vivi to her body, and the Ghost began healing her. 

Gayeon was gasping awake then.

The Light was life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is almost 5,000 longer than usual. I really wanted them to reach Titan at last! What do you think?


	5. it's a simple expedition, we'll be back before lunch

**v. it’s a simple expedition, we’ll be back before lunch**

****

There was a storm raging outside. 

The sinking docks Guardian Suho had picked as their base of operations had many vital advantages: they had working state-of-the-art –whatever the art had even been back in the Golden Age— air purificators, providing them with oxygen they so preciously needed. They were well-hidden and had a difficult access, which meant neither the Hive nor the Fallen could reach them without them figuring it out first. They had an old console any of the Ghosts could hack, too, to remotely access anything in the whole of the New Pacific Arcology’s network.

It also had some vital flaws. For starters, due to the lack of power in the whole station, Lay had had to sacrifice the fuel reserved for his ship in order to get the purificators working. The place was cramped, and covered in Hive eggs and worms, a sign of the creatures that had inhabited the place until Suho, Lay, and Gayeon had cleared them out— nearly costing them Gayeon’s life in the process. Oh, and they were _sinking_ docks, with the ocean way too close to comfort, the crashing of waves making the metal creak and moan ominously. 

“Sehun Oh,” Commander Suho had repeated the Hunter’s name at least three times, without actually adding anything afterwards. This time, it wasn’t any different. The Titan just shook his head, in awe and disbelief. “Sehun Oh.”

“Use your words, Suho,” Lay asked, from where he was kneeling by the shaken up Gayeon. She had practically coughed up her lungs after her rough awakening and was only now starting to breathe normally. Apparently, she had nearly choked outside on the poisonous atmosphere, fighting off the last of the Hive, before they could pull her in.

Suho ran a hand through his messed-up hair. He shrugged. Opened his mouth to say something and chose to shut it again instead.

“Suho,” Tao began familiarly, affectionate, a small smile playing in his lips, as he sat by the Commander. “I know this is a lot to take in. But it’s also really great! Sehun got his Light back!”

“I can see that,” Suho replied after what seemed like ages, gesturing to the tall Hunter, who looked unreadable. Baekhyun was starting to realise Sehun just reverted to seriousness and seeming enigmatic whenever he was unsure, which seemed to be a lot around older Guardians. Not for the first time, he found himself thinking how young he –and Tao, and Kai— were. “I just— I don’t understand. How?” 

“The Traveller gave him a vision, sir,” Jongdae filled in. “It called him to the Shard of the Traveller, and when they were in its presence, it gave him back his Light.”

Suho nodded in understanding. “Ah. Yeah. I suppose that would make sense. You were hiding in the EDZ, right? The Shard… The Shard of the Traveller…” He paused for a moment, as if searching for the right words. “…Well. It has a mind of its own.” 

He looked up then, looking a bit less lost, as if trying to channel the Commander he was now supposed to be.

“Did any of you get your Light back, too?” He asked. The uncomfortable shuffles and avoidant eyes he received told him everything he needed to know, and he pursed his lips.

“It wasn’t meant for the rest of us,” Jongdae said, not bitterly, although not completely at peace with the fact, either. “It’s certainly a conundrum. But Sehun Oh is the Traveller’s Chosen.”

“I really hate that nickname.” Sehun muttered.

Lay ignored the other Hunter in favour of turning to Baekhyun with deceptively droopy eyes.

“What a development, a Guardian getting their Light back,” The Guardian commented idly, stare fixed on Baekhyun’s awkward form. “It’s the sort of thing you just don’t keep to yourself. You write home about it, I’d say.”

Getting the hint loud and clear, Baekhyun half-hid behind Chanyeol, who watched curiously. Kyungsoo hid a smirk by ducking his head, while Jongin just snickered softly.

“Surprise?” He attempted. Lay raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him. “Okay— I genuinely didn’t even think of letting you know. I wasn’t even supposed to come here, you know?” 

“We’ve already discussed about how you were supposed to be here.” Chanyeol countered, and he wasn’t even quiet about it. Now Lay was raising _both_ eyebrows, and Baekhyun groaned. 

“I’m glad to see you here, Baekhyun,” Suho was quick to say, probably to stop more unsubtle jabs between spies. He had never been interested in Jongok’s Hidden and their dealings, unless they required him to fight something— ignorance was bliss, he claimed. “You’re a very capable warrior, good with intel— great at stealing things, too.”

“Uhm, thanks?” Baekhyun answered, more anxious than he’d like to admit. Suho offered him a bright smile, an intention concealed behind those white teeth. 

Suho was the kind of Guardian that had been around before Baekhyun had even been born, like Xiumin, Lord Donghae, or Heechul. He had been groomed to be Commander Sooman-52’s replacement ever since the late Titan had been Sooman-45. An Iron Lord turned into a Deputy Commander. Some had said he was a tamed wolf, but Suho was still one of the best leaders in the Last City. This had resulted on Baekhyun having limited interactions with Suho, which made it impossible for the scavenger to feel like he was _not_ standing in front of one of his idols. Prolonged exposure had prepared the grey-haired man for other Guardians, but Suho was a different story. They had never had to speak for too long. It always threw him off guard when Guardians knew who he was, or what his set of skills was. 

“It seems our counteroffensive is back on track,” Suho announced with finality, still bright-eyed and grinning. “And the first order of business is to secure this moon.”

The relief and excitement in the room was palpable, even if no one spoke. Tao did a little victory dance with Candy, making Suho by his side chuckle.

Not everyone was that crazy about the idea, though. Gayeon spoke up, voice still quite raspy:

“Sir,” She began nervously, “With all due respect, how are we going to even do that if only one of us has the Light and there’s a whole new Hive sect growing under our feet? Not to mention the Fallen, and the Ghosts—”

“—Gayeon,” Chanyeol interrupted gently, the younger woman relaxing just a bit at the sight of Chanyeol’s charming smile. It was clear the Titans were familiar with each other. Baekhyun squashed the twinge of jealousy as soon as he detected it within himself. “Humanity has survived before the Light. And Sehun is absolutely capable of sending the Hive to hell and back.”

“He is?” Toben blurted out, even if it was quietly, only meant for Chanyeol. In the all-metal room, it echoed loudly for all to hear. The tension could’ve been cut with a knife. Vivi reacted aggressively.

“Oh yeah Toben say that to my face, you little—” He didn’t get to finish before Sehun was shutting him up by grabbing the Ghost mid-air, muffling his voice. Chanyeol glared at his own Ghost, who at least looked ashamed.

“Yes, Toben,” The blond Titan had wide eyes, which conveyed a warning, as he looked at Toben. “He is.”

“I’m sorry,” Toben replied, “It’s just— He’s so inexperienced—”

Tao got up, defensive. “The Traveller still chose him over all of us and whatever experience we have.”

“Are we going at this again?” Baekhyun added, attempting to defuse the situation. “I do _not_ remember my speech back at the farm. Alas, I will recreate it to the best of my abilities.” He cleared his throat dramatically. “But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Sehun is the fucking sun.”

“That’s not how that goes.” Jongin commented helpfully.

“Okay, stop.” Sehun finally said. He sounded frustrated, and his frown spoke volumnes as well. “I got it. You think I’m a baby or something. You need to give me an opportunity to show you I’m not gonna fuck everything up. I’m not trying to be your leader or have you follow me anywhere. I didn’t _ask_ for the Light.” 

“It was the Light who asked for you,” A female voice remarked. Emerging from the dark corner where she had been scanning Hive worms, Byul, Suho’s legendary Ghost, floated calmly towards Sehun. “Was it not?” 

Sehun hesitated, but then nodded with confidence. Suho smiled beatifically at the young Hunter.

“Then you’re the Traveller’s Chosen, and we’ll trust the Traveller’s judgement.” Suho finalised resolutely. He took a look around the room, as if daring anyone –Guardian or Ghost— to say anything against it. “Is that clear?”

Chanyeol and Toben replied at the same time, one more enthusiastically than the other: “Yes, Commander.” 

“Of course!” Tao exclaimed. Candy giggled at her own Guardian’s excitement. Baekhyun could only wish he had such a good cheerleader one day, especially when he saw the small smile blooming on Sehun’s face.

“Count with us, sir.” Jongin answered for both Kyungsoo and he, the smaller Titan nodding in acknowledgement. 

“Oh, I’m definitely in,” Jongdae added. “And Pepper is, too, right, Pep?” 

Pepper hummed: “I see Sehun Oh for the beacon of hope he is.”

“Alright, I suppose.” Gayeon agreed reluctantly. Suho then looked at Baekhyun, who grinned at the Titan.

“I’m only here for Sehunnie to begin with.” The scavenger declared. Sehun’s smile grew, and some of them laughed— was that a pout on Chanyeol’s face? Baekhyun found himself winking at the blond, as if to appease him somewhat— over what, he wasn’t sure. It seemed to work on Chanyeol, who instantly turned bright again.

“It’s settled then,” Lay decided. “School’s in session. Guardians, tell me. How much do you know about the Hive?”

It became quite clear that, beyond fighting them, the Guardians did _not_ know much about the Hive. Only Jongdae was somewhat versed in their lore, and he looked at his fellow Kingslayers with disbelief as he learnt he was the only one.

“Seriously?” He wondered, staring at Kyungsoo and Chanyeol like he was seeing them for the first time. “We defeated Oryx together. Oryx! The founder of the Hive?”

Kyungsoo shrugged nonchalantly. Chanyeol was attempting to look ashamed, but it wasn’t really very convincing, and Baekhyun stifled a laugh at Jongdae’s indignant squawk. 

“The Hive are the closest you’ll ever get to the Darkness, and that’s very important for you to know.” Lay had made them all sit down as if they were truly in a classroom. “They’re an impossibly ancient race, born from a pact Oryx and his sisters made with Worm Gods. They are able to manipulate this physical realm in ways we can only begin to imagine, and they need to exterminate other forms of life to survive. _Especially_ the forms of life that follow the Traveller.”

“That’s us.” Baekhyun whispered to Chanyeol, just to make him laugh. The Titan bit his lips harshly, but a snort still escaped him. A stern glare from Suho shut them up both.

“The Hive were born from the Darkness and worship it through killing and conquest,” Lay continued his lesson, undeterred. “As most of you know, they have a strong presence in our very own Moon, and we’ve been unable to regain it. We can find them in some places of Earth, and we have reason to believe there’s a dormant sect in Mars. However, ever since the Taken War and the defeat of their King, they’ve been rather… Scattered, much like the Taken themselves.” 

“Can someone tell me what the Taken are? Chanyeol?” Suho asked the Titan, singling him out like a teacher with a misbehaving child. Baekhyun puckered his lips, making a face to keep himself from chortling at Chanyeol’s deer-in-headlights look. 

“Uh,” Chanyeol started nervously, “They’re spawns of Darkness.”

Suho nodded. “Exactly. The power to Take any being is given by the Darkness itself to only its most formidable Hive servants, like Oryx. The Taken served Oryx, but Oryx was merely a conduit for their power. The first of them were Hive, and they’re intrinsically connected.” 

Did they really have to discuss the Taken? Baekhyun puckered his lips further, childishly.

“I’m not sure I’m following what do we get from talking about the Taken when it’s the Hive we want to defeat, though,” Jongin spoke up. “I understand… They come from the same origins. But there’s no Taken here, right?”

Lay smiled at Jongin, indulging.

“There’s no Taken here, as far as we know, it’s true,” Lay acquiesced. “However, right before the Red Legion invasion, your fellow Guardians encountered freshly turned Taken in Old America, did they not?”

“Yes.” Jongin responded slowly, eyes turning to Kyungsoo and then to Lay once more.

Lay snapped his fingers. “And here we are, in a previously completely uninhabited moon, with an unidentified Hive sect just waiting for us. What does that tell us?” 

“New leadership.” Kyungsoo replied morosely. Surprisingly, he turned to Baekhyun, as if remembering their bet. It was certainly what crossed Baekhyun’s mind at least, who looked away to draw invisible patterns on the floor with his finger.

“Just like us, I suppose.” Jongdae quipped without much mirth at all. It was appreciated regardless by Suho, who chuckled. 

“This is just terrifying and overwhelming,” Gayeon commented, looking both the parts of terrified and overwhelmed. “The Red Legion, Hive Gods, and the possibility of being Taken? It’s just too much.”

Chanyeol put a hand over her shoulder. “It’s okay, Gayeon. We’ve faced worse situations.”

“Have we?” She questioned.

“Cat, please draw this for me.” Lay asked his Ghost, who hummed much like his Guardian. He didn’t have much Light, and it wasn’t a bright drawing, but he dutifully filled the lines in space as Lay described.

“So, we have the three siblings: Oryx, Savathûn, and Xivu Arath. Oryx had four children that we know of— Crota, Ir Anûk, Ir Halak, and Nokris. Savathûn had three kids, which would be Balwûr, Malok, and Dûl Incaru. Crota is dead –thanks, Chanyeol— and along with Chen and D.O, you killed Ir Anûk and Ir Halak, _and_ Oryx in the final raid on the Dreadnaught. Then you killed Malok when he attempted to occupy his uncle’s throne, and Balwûr too.”

“That, we did.” Jongdae asserted, eyes glazed with how hard he had been staring at the genogram. “This is one hell of a family tree.”

“Oh, yeah.” Lay agreed. “Nokris is unaccounted for, but there hasn’t been a single mention of him in centuries. The only reference we have found to his existence is that statue in the Dreadnaught you reported, D.O.”

“I remember,” Kyungsoo replied. “Ink couldn’t recognise the symbol.”

“We can safely assume he’s inactive,” Suho said. “Which leaves us with the wicked sisters— Xivu Arath and Savathûn, and her third daughter, Dûl Incaru. What do we know about each of them?”

“Xivû Arath, Goddess of War.” Jongdae answered, enthusiastic. How he found any sort of enthusiasm in this was beyond Baekhyun, but the scavenger had noticed the Warlock’s penchant for history and knowledge. “She strives to become the mightiest warrior in the universe. But she left Oryx a long time ago for deep space, didn’t she? She travelled into a black hole to who knows where.” 

“So, realistically, it’s either this Savathûn or this Dûl Incaru.” Tao hypothesised. Baekhyun closed his eyes and sighed, starting to feel strange. He hated the Hive so much. He chalked it up to that. 

Lay scrolled through a few things in his tablet. He let out an ‘ah!’ when he found what he wanted. He didn’t speak up, however, reading intently, and Suho took over for him.

“Between mother and daughter, and with who we know the Darkness bestows the power of Taking on, we should think it’s Savathûn,” The Titan Commander stated. “She has many names and has brought much destruction to even our own system. They call her the Witch-Queen, the Black Needle, the Emancipator of Worms, the Scheme-Mother—”

“—The Deceitful Sister,” Baekhyun muttered, low and mostly to himself, at the same time as Suho finished reciting them. “—the Missing Piece of All Puzzles.”

The Darkness within him recognised the names for what they represented in him, singing in delight. Its song was painful to Baekhyun, who rubbed his chest gingerly. So that was what the strange feeling was about.

“I have a question, though.” Sehun chimed in, unsure.

“Yes, Sehun?” Suho asked.

“You keep talking about… The Darkness, like it’s a living thing,” Sehun elaborated, embarrassed. He probably thought it was something obvious, that he should’ve been born knowing. “I honestly— I thought it just a poetic way to refer to our enemies, or something like that.” He confessed. 

“I don’t think anyone understands much of it, Sehun.” Jongin offered sympathetically with a half-smile. 

“The Darkness is the biggest enemy of the Traveller,” Suho explained as simply as he could after a short pause. “The other side of our Light’s coin. It was the force that nearly wiped all life during the Collapse, just to get to our Traveller. It wants to nullify Light. That’s as much as I can give you without giving you a Philosophy course, for which I’m not qualified.” 

“We don’t know if it’s a physical entity, just that it’s a cosmic paracausal force just like the Light, or like the Nine,” Jongdae added. “People that have seen it just describe it as a void, like a smothering, paralysing, black—”

“—Cloud.” Sehun finished for him, as if remembering something. Jongdae stared at him in surprise, but then just nodded.

“Yeah,” Jongdae paused. Baekhyun thought he could feel the Warlock’s eyes on him. “Getting too close to it, though— it’s just bad news. Its infection can drive you to madness and— and death.”

The scavenger got up quickly, feeling suddenly too smothered in the small station. His sudden movement caught the eyes of all Guardians, curious. He just smiled at them, trying to seem as harmless as he possibly could. 

“Lay,” He suggested. “Why don’t you read them—?” 

“I’m on it, Baekhyun.” Lay stopped him. He finally looked up from his datapad to smile at the rest of his strange classroom. “I was about to read you all an extract from a report by our very own Hidden Agent, BBH-659, may they be safe wherever they are. This was written back when the Taken first came onto our radar.”

Lay looked down once more and scanned for the passage he wanted. Baekhyun did talk shit a lot in his logs, but this one, he was proud of. He began reading: 

“‘The process is simple— an aperture opens, like a jaw, and swallows a living thing. It passes into another place, and later, it returns. What returns are the creatures. The Taken shine with seething, negative light. As if the universe is curling up around them. As if they radiate some pathology that decays into our world as nothingness. They serve Oryx, but those jaws must lead somewhere else’.”

Lay looked up once more.

“That other place our Agent refers to, now we know, is the Darkness.”

Baekhyun remembered writing that. He dared to glance up at Jongdae and stare back. Now, it was like the disease he had described was within him, and the Warlock seemed to understand it as well. It was just advancing at a snail’s pace, sometimes quickening. 

Like now. Was it all this talk about the Hive and the Darkness that was triggering it?

“That’s poetic of Agent BBH-659,” Kyungsoo remarked, staring at Baekhyun though not understanding his serious stance, and Jongin by him giggled. “May they be safe wherever they are.” 

“All of this talk isn’t for nothing,” Suho revealed, though it had been obvious from the start. “Lay’s fuel is running out, and even if we find more supplies, we still need to be able to leave this place when required. We need to power this whole city once more, and the Hive are on the way.”

“So we get rid of them,” Kyungsoo concluded. “After that, what do we do?”

“We have intercepted Cabal communications, tons of them,” Lay stated. “The only problem is we don’t have the power to decrypt them— except that we have located a powerful Golden Age CPU network we can use. Guess where it is.”

Chanyeol chuckled humourlessly. “In the heart of the colony, I wager?”

Lay smirked and nodded. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

“And there’s the matter of the Fallen, of course, which have been following us ever since we left Earth,” Suho added, more like an afterthought. “They’re more of a pain in the ass than anything right now. We should keep it that way.”

“Sir,” Gayeon spoke up. “The Ghosts. Don’t forget them.”

Suho smiled bitterly at the woman. “I could never.” 

“Wait, what Ghosts?” Chanyeol asked. Gayeon shook her head, regretful. Baekhyun’s interest too was perked up, but he was careful not to show it. 

“We were ambushed and unprepared for it,” She confessed. “We lost many Guardians of our fireteam. Some Ghosts died with them, and others chose to die, but others— they’re just wandering around. We could hardly keep track of them. And I’m worried about them.”

A hunger Baekhyun had never felt overtook him. He swallowed harshly.

“Whoever is out there must be distraught,” Pepper said, sounding pretty distraught herself. She turned to her Guardian. “We need to find them, Chen!” 

“We will, Pep.” Jongdae comforted her, caressing the Ghost’s shell sweetly.

“Indeed, we will.” Suho echoed. “Let’s discuss fireteams, shall we?” 

The Commander had a pretty clear idea on who he wanted, and where. They would work simultaneously, the Titan informed him, to be as efficient as possible.

Chanyeol, Gayeon, and Lay would have the task of finding the generators and powering the New Pacific Arcology back into life, under the codename of fireteam Riptide. Kyungsoo, Jongdae, and Suho himself would look for the Ghosts, and make sure the Fallen crew that had stalked them was taken care of as well, calling themselves fireteam Siren’s Watch. Sehun would lead Tao, Jongin, and Baekhyun deep into the Arcology once the power was back online, get rid of as much Hive as possible, and then, recuperate the CPU they needed, and Suho named them Utopia— Baekhyun hated it.

“Hold up,” Baekhyun stopped the Commander in his tracks. “You want _me_ to go down to the middle of a Hive colony?” 

“Yes,” Suho confirmed, as if he saw no problem with that. “I said you were great at stealing. I need you to steal this CPU. Under the protection of Sehun’s Light, you’ll all be safe.” 

Sensing Baekhyun’s reticence, Lay chimed in: “Think of it this way, Baekhyun— it’s also like a small revenge on the Hive.” 

“Revenge isn’t my style.” Baekhyun tried to fight. Lay rolled his eyes at him.

“Now you just sound like Kris,” The Hunter deadpanned. “C’mon. You didn’t come all this way to see no action at all, did you?”

“Baekhyun,” Sehun reassured him, as if Baekhyun needed that, “I _will_ protect you. All of you.”

Baekhyun bit his lip.

He couldn’t actually say what actually worried him. He felt shaken, out of sorts, and it had been only over discussing the Darkness. His infection was unstable— what would happen to him if he walked right into the metaphorical wolf’s den? At least Jongdae understood his concerns, even if the Warlock didn’t make a comment in Baekhyun’s favour.

“Please, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol pleaded. “We need you.”

Baekhyun made the mistake of looking up at the Guardian.

Honestly? Chanyeol had the prettiest eyes. And Baekhyun was definitely jealous he had been paired off with Gayeon, whom he got along with. Fuck that guy. Fuck that guy so hard.

He sighed.

“There wasn’t a way I would’ve said no.” Baekhyun answered at last. Chanyeol and Sehun grinned. Suho nodded, pleased. Jongdae kept staring at him, anxious. 

And that was that.

The storm had not let up during their time under a roof. 

It was Chanyeol who walked him back to the landing pad they had arrived to, braving the harsh rain and wind with Baekhyun as the scavenger called the Häkke Vimana down. He had left his guns in it, and there was no way he was going down without them. 

“So, Guardian Lay mentioned something about revenge.” Chanyeol tried to yell over the rain. Gloomily, Baekhyun pretended not to understand.

“What?”

“I asked about that revenge thing Lay mentioned.” Chanyeol repeated himself, louder this time.

“I can’t hear you!” Baekhyun yelled back, making hand gestures. There was a smile pulling slightly at the corner of his lips, but Chanyeol couldn’t see it through the lens of Baekhyun’s helmet. Miffed, the Titan shuffled awkwardly for a moment, and then perked up when he got an idea.

“ _There_ ,” Chanyeol’s deep voice came right into Baekhyun’s ear through his comm, and the scavenger jumped. Chanyeol snickered. “ _I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before_!”

Heart beating fast for all the wrong –or right— reasons, Baekhyun huffed. The Häkke Vimana was doing its slow auto-landing now, hindered slightly by the wind.

“You really wanted to talk to me, huh?” Baekhyun teased. Chanyeol didn’t even try to deny it. Perhaps the helmet concealing his face also giving him a little more courage.

“ _I’m just really curious, that’s all,_ ” The Titan admitted. “ _You looked really… Bad, in there_. _Really pale_.”

“Way to compliment a guy, Chanyeol.” Baekhyun joked, as he commanded the doors of the Vimana to open. Chanyeol began spluttering almost instantly.

“ _I didn’t mean it that way_!” Chanyeol exclaimed, and Baekhyun was able to even hear how he winced when the scavenger screamed a little in pain and shock at the loud sound. “ _Sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. You just made me worried_.”

Baekhyun stepped into the craft, and rummaged through his duffel bag, his stomach fluttering. It was hard to remind himself that he wasn’t supposed to like Chanyeol, that this attraction he felt had no place in their circumstances, when the Titan was just so charming. It was like it only got worse when they were completely alone, a situation that had increased in frequency ever since they had left the farm. 

Was Chanyeol seeking him out? It certainly felt that way. 

“It was too stuffy in there, and it’s true that I don’t like the Hive,” Baekhyun said, which wasn’t a lie anyway. Chanyeol didn’t need the whole truth. He seemed to be content with the half-confessions Baekhyun gave him. It only made Baekhyun feel half-guilty, too. “But I never even thought about revenge against _them_ , you know? I always knew they were out to destroy us— like we are out here to destroy them.”

“ _Why did you even need revenge, though? Or am I pressing too much_?”

Baekhyun didn’t answer right away. He pulled his SUROS Regime, his Izanagi sniper, and the Two-Tailed Fox from the bag, meticulously strapping them to his body. He toyed with the black cube, and finally decided to attach it to his utility belt. It looked like a grenade dispenser.

Chanyeol watched him in silence from the storm, giving the scavenger whatever time he needed. Once he was ready, Baekhyun stepped out of the Häkke Vimana, opting to closing it manually and sending it back to orbit on its own. 

Chanyeol chuckled at Baekhyun when he saw him. Baekhyun pouted, “What’s so funny now?”

“ _You’re really overloaded. Do you really need four different weapons and— what is that? A grenade dispenser_?”

“Guardians always carry at least three weapons, I’m just trying to keep up!” Baekhyun protested, as they rushed back into the decontamination chamber that would lead them to the station. His poncho was soaked. If it hadn’t been for the metal armour he wore under it, Baekhyun would’ve been soaked too. 

The grey-haired man took off his helmet almost at the same time that Chanyeol did. The first thing the Titan did when their eyes locked was smile and shake his hair like he was some sort of puppy. Damn it. It disarmed Baekhyun so easily— but he also saw no point in fighting it. 

“The Hive are the reason my dad is dead,” Baekhyun confessed suddenly, surprising Chanyeol. His face immediately fell sadly, and Baekhyun swore his big ears were drooping. “In a mission gone wrong, where there wasn’t supposed to be any Hive at all. They’re the reason why Baekbeom’s scarred, too. Thralls tried to tear him apart.”

“Baekhyun, I’m so sorry.” Chanyeol murmured earnestly. Baekhyun shrugged. 

“Like I said, my problem was never with them,” The scavenger answered, watching Chanyeol. He stepped closer to him, to reach the pad that was right behind the blond. It made them be almost chest to chest, and Baekhyun thought he heard Chanyeol’s breath hitch. “I mean, they’re disgusting, and they destroyed my family. But… They’re almost fascinating. You heard what I wrote about Taken.”

Hand on the pad, Baekhyun didn’t really press it to let themselves back into the station. A few couple minutes more wouldn’t hurt. Chanyeol didn’t mention it, either. Instead, he caught what Baekhyun was implying.

“But you do have a problem with something about it.” The Titan remarked. Baekhyun nodded and grinned at Chanyeol. 

“My problem was with Guardians, to be honest with you, Chanyeollie.”

Was Chanyeol pouting at him? Who gave him the right, really? Baekhyun would sue as soon as there was some sort of legal system back into place. 

The Guardian in question was about to say something, probably ask Baekhyun to elaborate— before he got the chance, however, the chamber was opened from the other side, revealing Kyungsoo. The other man squinted his eyes at their closeness, and both Chanyeol and Baekhyun stepped away, as if caught red-handed.

Kyungsoo blessedly didn’t comment on it. Instead, he said, “How are you gonna walk with so many things strapped to your body, Baekhyun?”

“Right?! I told him he’s overloaded!” Chanyeol agreed. 

“I’m literally tasked with infiltrating a fucking Hive colony of an unknown sect probably lead by Savathûn herself,” Baekhyun countered, “While you guys go flip a switch and sight-see. I’m taking as many guns as I feel like taking.”

“Tough luck, thief,” Kyungsoo deadpanned. “Anyway, you’re going with Jongin— Kai. I’m not saying this just as his boyfriend, but he’s a quite capable fighter.”

“Tao is also a force to be reckoned with.” Chanyeol joined in easily. Baekhyun made a face at both of them.

“I’m sure they’re alright,” Baekhyun commented, just as he happened to catch Sehun’s eyes, who smirked at Baekhyun. “My money’s with the guy who got his Light back, though.”

Baekhyun did like a good bet, after all, and he was certain he would win, although it might take his sanity.

The storm still hadn’t lessened in intensity when they put their plan into motion. They had to keep their radios open constantly just to be able to hear the person standing right next to them. 

The whole resistance left the station at the same time, the Siren’s Watch fireteam parting almost right away from the rest of them.

“ _Be extremely careful, everyone_ ,” Suho ordered through their comms as they walked away. “ _Do not do anything that puts any of you at an unnecessary risk. Keep communications open at all times, never mind the interference. Let’s move out_.” 

Fireteam Riptide and Fireteam Utopia followed the opposite direction, towards a place marked in Lay’s map as the Rig. For all that they had made fun of Baekhyun for having too much guns, every Guardian was armed to the teeth with whatever they could find and had brought along.

“ _We’ll have to cross a bridge in a really bad state_ ,” The eldest Hunter warned. “ _Please try not to fall into the sea— we can’t save you if you do_.”

“Will we have to jump?” Baekhyun asked. Much to his chagrin, Lay answered with a: “ _Oh, absolutely_.” 

So many places in this forsaken city were weakened metal railings, Baekhyun was afraid at times they would collapse under their combined weight. When they reached the actual bridge Lay had referred to, he almost whined. Indeed, it was a bridge made of unconnected steel plates and torn tarp— time had not been kind to it.

“ _Who wants to go first_?” Lay chirped.

Without saying a word, Sehun jumped the first hurdle, grabbing onto a metal pole so he wouldn’t fall. Still silent, he offered a hand to whomever came next, which was Tao. The Warlock jumped gracefully.

“ _Thank you, kind sir._ ” He giggled in a way surely only meant for the Hunter, squeezing Sehun’s shoulder affectionately. Baekhyun imagined Tao as a kitten, purring and nuzzling against the other Guardian, who only chuckled fondly.

Lay was up next, followed by Jongin, and then Chanyeol. The Titan stumbled back, Baekhyun shouting in alarm, and Sehun barely had enough time to react to keep him from falling.

“For fuck’s sake, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun complained, as the blond sheepishly rubbed his nape. “You have way too long legs to fall like that.”

“ _Those long legs are his downfall_.” Gayeon commented, and then jumped herself. She didn’t even need Sehun’s help, landing even further than he had and without any need for balance. 

_Show off,_ Baekhyun thought enviously. With only himself left on the other side, he took a step back to gain momentum, and then jump. He, too, tripped, but Sehun was more ready this time, pulling the scavenger right into his chest. 

“ _Alright_?” Sehun asked. Baekhyun nodded shakily.

“ _Your legs are too short_ ,” Chanyeol quipped. “ _That was bound to happen_.”

“I will push you to the sea myself, Park.” Baekhyun threatened. 

The rest of the bridge was travelled in similar fashion, and painfully slowly according to Baekhyun, despite the short distance it was. Fortunately, they had no run-ins with any alien creatures, though by the time they reached the Rig where their fireteams would separate, Jongdae sent a broadcast.

“ _Baekhyun_ ,” The Warlock called uncertainly, “ _Did you, uh, lock your ship_? _Sent it back to the atmosphere_? **_Cloaked_**?”

“The cloaking isn't automatic, and it’s way too much fuel. But I did all of the rest,” Baekhyun replied tiredly. “Why?”

“ _We’re watching a Fallen crew rob it blind as we speak._ ” Kyungsoo revealed with a muted sense of amusement. Baekhyun spluttered. 

“Well, fucking stop them?!” He yelled, as the Guardians around him had the audacity to laugh. “I have important things in that piece of shit!”

“ _You gotta ask nicely._ ” Jongdae teased. Baekhyun was about to shout at him some more, when Suho thankfully interjected, “ _Don’t worry, Byun. We’ll get your stuff back before they even finish dismantling your ship_.” 

Even through the heavy rain, Baekhyun could hear how the fireteams were in stitches. He could also see them. Chanyeol was about to hit the ground, Sehun and Jongin bent over, and Tao sounded like a hyena. Gayeon was slapping her thighs as if this was the funniest thing she had heard in years. Only Lay had some sense of decorum, but Baekhyun could practically feel his smirk through his helmet.

“ _I told you it was unsafe to just leave your ships lying around._ ” The Hunter reminded him. Baekhyun seethed. 

“I didn’t leave it lying around!” 

“ _Whatever you say, Baekhyun_ ,” Jongin teased through his laughter. “ _We need to keep moving, anyway._ ” 

“ _I can see you sulking._ ” Lay commented playfully, and then added: “ _This is where we part._ ”

“Then focus, wouldn’t you? Stupid Guardians.” Baekhyun snapped, as he pulled out his own tablet to take another look at the map. 

Gayeon, Lay, and Chanyeol would take the left. Jongin, Tao, Sehun, and himself would take the right— into a place tagged as Solarium.

“ _Wait for our signal, you won’t be able to locate the CPU without any energy_ ,” Chanyeol commanded, growing more serious. “ _Be extremely careful_. _Sehun, protect your fireteam._ ” 

Sehun looked over to his actual fireteam and then nodded wordlessly.

Baekhyun had to pass by Chanyeol’s side as they left. The Titan touched his arm fleetingly, and Baekhyun looked at him. Neither could see each other’s faces, but Baekhyun appreciated the sentiment. 

Fortunately for his group, the trek to the Solarium didn’t include any more unsteady bridges, and actually, it involved them getting some shelter at last, which was much appreciated. His poncho was practically sticking to his chest plates and helmet. 

It did include Fallen, however, right by what was supposed to be the entrance and they had— oh, that wasn’t good. Sehun made a signal for them to stop moving, and they hid quickly.

“ _We’ve ran into Hive and Fallen fighting_ ,” Lay’s voice came through their comms, and Baekhyun jumped just a bit in a startle. “ _Hive’s got a Shrieker. Fallen have Exploder Shanks. We’re waiting it out, let them sort themselves out_.”

“ _We’ve tracked the Fallen crew, killed a few, and guess what_?” Jongdae replied, satisfied. “ _They’re just gathering Baekhyun’s shitty stuff and stolen Golden tech age… In a nice big pile… Right out here in the open_.” 

When no reaction came from Baekhyun at Jongdae’s jab, Suho spoke up.

“ _Fireteam Utopia, what’s your status_?”

“ _Shh,_ ” Tao hissed into his microphone. Jongin was sneakily deploying a cloaked Monggu forward, for a better view of what was forward.

“It’s just the one Servitor and some Dregs,” Jongin stated lowly. He turned to Sehun. “What do you wanna do?” 

“Kill ‘em. Duh.” Sehun replied. “Wanna do the honours?”

Jongin cracked his knuckles.

Servitors weren’t easy opponents. The round, sentient machines had always reminded Baekhyun of what Ghosts were to Guardians, only to Fallen— Servitors kept the rest of them alive. They also looked like huge Ghosts, now that Baekhyun thought about it.

But Jongin— Jongin wasn’t a pushover, the scavenger guessed. And also, he had a grenade launcher with him.

The Crucible required speed, and speed is exactly what Jongin had, loading the modest Hadrian-A Baekbeom had given him before they had left the EDZ rapidly, firing it without so much as aiming. At first, Baekhyun thought it would be a miss, and he was already reaching for his Izanagi sniper, but much to his surprise, the grenade got right into the Servitor’s eye. It damaged it heavily, the machine screaming in that horrible metallic sound they spoke in— it didn’t finish it off, though. And the Dregs were alerted now.

“Kai.” Baekhyun started in warning, but Jongin was already reloading, which— impressive. Hadrian-As weren’t easy to handle, yet here the Titan was, firing once more before Baekhyun could blink. The Servitor exploded, and the Dregs were caught in it, too. However, they were not dead, and as soon as they recovered, they began shooting at them. Tao was quicker than them, and precise with his shooting. 

“ _All clear._ ” Sehun declared, mostly for the benefit of the other fireteams. They moved forward and came to stand before a large wall of colourful crystals, among the remains of their Fallen— the supposed entrance to the New Pacific Arcology.

“I bet these guys were keeping watch here.” Baekhyun observed. Now that they were at peace, the others had begun chatting up through the radios once more. 

“ _We can see the wave energy converters from here_!” Chanyeol announced. “ _And we’re flipping the switch riiiiiight now_.”

Nothing happened.

“ _Uh oh._ ” Chanyeol said. From somewhere else in the floating city, Suho sighed. 

“ _What happened_?”

“ _Consoles tell us the pistons are jammed,_ ” Gayeon responded. “ _Are we gonna have to go out there_?”

“ _I’m afraid so._ ” Lay replied, not sounding very enthused about it himself.

“ _Hey, Chen_ ,” Kyungsoo suddenly said. “ _Does that Fallen look like a transmat beacon thief to you_?” 

Baekhyun perked with anxiety. “My transmat beacon?!” 

“ _He sure does, D.O,_ ” Jongdae answered, ignoring Baekhyun. Baekhyun wanted to go chase Fallen, not wait it out to fight the Hive. 

“Please get my transmat beacon back.” He was reduced to begging instead.

“Don’t cry, Baekhyun,” Tao asked, almost sweet, and thankfully, it wasn’t through a radio. “What do you think these guys were watching out for?” 

Baekhyun just sighed, kicking a piece of Servitor around.

“The Hive.”

“We’ve gotten really very little action,” Jongin remarked idly. “I thought we’d drawn the short straw, to be honest.”

Sehun hummed in agreement. Right then, a distant, yet blood-curling scream of a Hive Wizard made itself present. They all laughed nervously.

“ _That one, D.O,_ ” Chen spoke again. “ _That one’s gotta be the transmat beacon thief. He looks even thief-er than the first one_.”

“ _Hurry up_ , _I see a Captain coming my way._ ” Suho urged, even if he didn’t sound too worried. 

“ _We found the problem_!” Lay notified them, in a completely different tone. “ _The Hive gunked up the pistons. It’s disgusting, wish you were here_.”

“ _It’s touching me, oh fuck, it’s touching me!”_ Chanyeol complained. 

“Quit whining, you baby,” Baekhyun retorted into his microphone. “We’re just sitting in the dark here.” 

“ _Be patient, you baby_ ,” Chanyeol countered, imitating the scavenger’s tone. “ _I’m tearing through gunk with my own bare hands_.”

“Ew, you’re no longer allowed to touch me.” Baekhyun said, and Chanyeol chuckled. The sound was ridiculously deep, and too close to Baekhyun’s ear. He shivered.

“ _Oh, I was allowed before_? _I should’ve taken advantage of that—_ ” 

“— _Quit flirting where we can hear you, ugh,_ ” Jongdae interrupted, sounding annoyed. Baekhyun flushed. _“That other Fallen is **definitely** a transmat beacon thief, D.O_!” 

“ _Third time’s the charm._ ” Kyungsoo commented blankly.

When at least ten minutes had passed and there was still no power, the four of them just waiting awkwardly, Sehun called again. “Am I guessing it’s not a piston problem?”

Chanyeol made a sound of agreement. 

“ _I touched that awful thing and got myself a Baekhyun ban for no reason at all.”_ The Titan said, and Baekhyun, who was just calming down, groaned in embarrassment. “ _We’re going into the Central Platform nearby. Everything routes through there, Lay says. Right, Lay_?”

“ _Right.”_ Lay confirmed. 

“You’re gonna have to fuzz with the circuit breakers,” Tao suggested. “I bet that’ll restore power to the whole station and we can get this show on the road.” 

“ _How did you even know that_?” Gayeon questioned, impressed. Tao, in front of Baekhyun, just shrugged.

“Tao knows his electronics,” Sehun said instead. “Hurry up. It’s cold.” 

“ _Good news on our side_ ,” Kyungsoo stated, sounding kind of out of breath. “ _We got rid of the Captain behind all of this. We got your transmat beacon back, too, Baekhyun_.” 

“Are you okay?” Jongin asked, concerned. Kyungsoo coughed.

“ _We’re definitely alive and healing up_.” Ink responded instead of his Guardian. 

“ _It’s not that easy fighting without Light. No tricks up our sleeves. I had forgotten that._ ” Jongdae muttered. 

“ _We survived, however_ ,” Suho consoled them. “ _And now… Well. We heal, and we’ll haul everything we found back to our headquarters._ ”

“ _Wave of Hive over here_!” Lay exclaimed, clearly in the middle of stabbing or punching something. “ _I’m starting to think there’s not gonna be any colony left for our Traveller’s Chosen to prove himself_!” 

Sehun didn’t say anything, although he did cross his arms. Baekhyun watched him. He imagined he was probably licking his lips, or would brush the hair out of his eyes, if he was uncovered. Baekhyun turned off his comm momentarily, so he wouldn't be eavesdropped on by the others. 

“You’ll prove yourself, Sehun,” He offered confidently. “Don’t listen to them.”

The Hunter visibly relaxed, even if he didn’t say anything else. He just decided to take a seat next to Tao, who cuddled up to him, as if there was nothing to be worried about on the other side of the crystals in the Solarium. Jongin, in the meantime, had taken up to examining them, looking for a way through.

“These are literally just glass. I think it’s the other side of a screen,” The redheaded Guardian informed them. “I could even punch our way into this place.”

“So do that,” Baekhyun suggested. “Once we have power. I’m not going into a ghost town like that when it’s crawling with Hive, just because you’re impatient.” 

As if to make a point, there was another screeching cackle from far away. They were definitely coming from the other side of the screen, and Jongin seemed unsettled.

Baekhyun turned his eyes to look at Tao and Sehun, who were huddled together, but still had nervous stances as well. The scavenger sighed once more, dramatically.

“Guys, don’t look so terrified about this,” He proposed, aiming to sound positive. “The Hive die, just like everything else. Just aim for the soft parts.” 

“We can die too, now, remember?” Jongin countered. “I used to punch things and they disintegrated. Somehow, I feel that won’t happen if I tried it now.” 

Baekhyun smirked despite himself at the visual. It would be cool to watch something disintegrate with a punch. He imagined Chanyeol doing it. Hot.

“Jongin, Guardians have died even with the Light on their side, and even with Ghosts right there by them.” He retorted easily. “I’ll tell you what— if you have to fight a Thrall barehanded in there, you grab the skull and _squeeze_. They’re all just worms under all that chitin. Even I can do it.”

Jongin took a breath, as if ready to say something back, when suddenly, the screen of crystals in front of them came to life, and Chanyeol’s voice came through once more.

“ _Yeah! Power’s back, baby!_ ”

“ _Utopia, that’s your cue_.” Commander Suho reminded them, as if Jongin wasn't already taking a step back to hit the crystals with his shoulder in a body slam. 

“On it, Commander.” Sehun responded, and then there was a loud crash as Jongin went through the screen.

“ _Guardians, securing this asset could turn the tide of the war with the Red Legion,”_ Suho continued. “ _Without it, I don’t know what comes next._ ” 

Nobody answered. The four of them slowly stepped through the crystals, and into an incredible city, with overgrown nature and flashing monitors coming back online after what had to be centuries. Baekhyun wasn’t ashamed to admit he was gaping, and a gentle voice greeted them, echoing throughout. 

“ _Welcome to New Pacific Arcology— the bright future of space colonisation in the shadow of Saturn_.” 

“Sounds like the Arcology’s Operating System is back online.” Candy remarked in wonder. 

“This place is amazing.” Sehun observed in awe.

“ _You need to find an OS access terminal, Utopia,_ ” Lay called. “ _That’ll let you pinpoint the CPU network’s location, and you can proceed to steal one._ ”

“Copy that,” Sehun answered. “What will you do in the meantime?”

“ _Help out Siren’s Watch and shoot whatever we come across._ ” Gayeon answered. “ _Commander, may I suggest something— we can use the current presence of Hive and Fallen against them._ ”

“ _I’m interested in hearing your thoughts, Gayeon,_ ” Suho replied. “ _Make your way back and we’ll talk. Utopia, keep us posted of all your moves_.”

“ _Kai._ ” Kyungsoo said suddenly.

“Yes?”

“ _Be careful_.” The other Titan mentioned simply. Jongin ducked his head, as Baekhyun grinned next to him and punched his shoulder softly. 

“Will do. See you on the other side.” Jongin replied, and when his radio was off, the rest of them began laughing freely at him.

“Kyungsoo and Jongin, sitting under a tree,” Baekhyun singsong-ed. “K-I-S-S-I-N—” 

Jongin punched Baekhyun’s shoulder back, way harder, and the scavenger whined in pain and he rubbed the sore spot.

“Okay, I located an OS access terminal,” Vivi announced. “Follow me!” 

They began to follow the Ghost, and despite their previous banter, it was clear that they had grown more serious. Far from the others as they were, alone in the Arcology, Baekhyun realised just how much on their own they were. And about to go right into the Hive’s possible nest. The ambience was tense, as they walked by what had had to be a plaza once, and into an arboretum of sorts, as the Arcology’s operating system continued to speak through the loudspeakers.

“ _The New Pacific Academy is proud to offer degrees in Methane-Oceanography and Tidal Engineering_.” 

“That’s specific,” Jongin remarked humourlessly. “Those degrees must’ve been useful in this moon and nowhere else.” 

Baekhyun hummed and nodded in agreement. 

“ _Attention science lovers!_ ” The OS interrupted their conversation. “ _The Collective’s lecture on the terraforming of Io begins in five minutes in the Cassini Library._ ”

“Which Collective?” Tao wondered, bewildered. “The Vex Collective?” 

“It was probably the Ishtar Collective,” Candy assured him. “Scientists from Venus. The Arcology must be running on a loop it never broke.” 

“Humanity was banking a lot on Titan, they say,” Baekhyun mentioned, looking around the old apartments and screens and nature exhibitions. “Lots of scientists and researchers came here. Just waiting for the Traveller to terraform this place next. The Collapse happened before it ever got here, though.”

“ _Thirty-four percent of Titan’s citizens’ hope that the Traveller will terraform the ocean-moon soon._ ” The Arcology confirmed, as if on cue. 

“I don’t get it, though,” Jongin muttered. “Why come all the way here pre-emptively like that? It’s not exactly a hospitable place.” 

“Back in the Golden Age,” Sehun started speaking, somewhat dazed, “We used to think we owned this system. And we actually did, too. So why not turn a whole ocean-moon into a college town?” 

Jongin looked at Sehun strangely, even through the lens of his helmet.

“You remember that?” He asked. 

The Hunter shrugged. “It’s more like a sensation, rather than a memory. I think maybe someone wanted me to study here. Or maybe I did. You know, back when…” 

“…When you were alive before,” Tao finished for him, sounding amazed. “You even remember passing thoughts like that. It never ceases to surprise me.”

“Do you remember anything, Tao?” Baekhyun questioned. He felt much more comfortable now, asking that question, when he realised most Guardians –at least the ones in his fireteam— cared very little for rules. Tao nodded vigorously. “Who did you use to be?”

Tao chuckled at the question. “I was me, Baekhyun. I just had a different job.” 

Wise answer. Baekhyun smiled at it.

“Well, what was the job?”

Before the Warlock could answer, the OS spoke again.

“ _The Traveller’s sudden departure from Io was a surprise to many. But experts insist that we should trust in the Traveller’s choices_.” 

They were approaching the access terminal, Vivi mumbled ahead of them. Sehun wasn’t really listening to him, though, instead stopping briefly to look up at the loudspeakers. 

“What happened in Io?” He asked.

“That’s the beginning of the Collapse, though we didn’t know it at the time,” Baekhyun replied wistfully. “The Traveller most likely sensed the Darkness coming, and just fled Io to escape it.”

“ _Local officials will neither confirm nor deny the existence of any so-called deep-space-anomaly_.”

Baekhyun snapped his fingers. “That. The deep-space-anomaly. That was the Darkness. Titan was one of the first places to detect it at all. It got evacuated because of it.”

“I’m still having a really hard time understanding that,” Sehun admitted. “The Darkness. And it bothers me.”

Baekhyun inevitably sobered up more. He quickened his pace, as if to be closer to Vivi than the Guardians. The Ghost had reached a console at last, right by a door that was sealed tightly. Despite the power being back on, it was very dark, except for the screen of the terminal. Vivi got to work immediately, accessing the systems without waiting for orders. 

“There’s not much that we can understand, Sehun,” Jongin echoed himself from what had to have been only a couple hours ago. “It’s a paracausal force that goes beyond us.” 

Sehun groaned. “What even _is_ paracausal?” 

“That it violates causality,” Tao explained. “It’s like— like magic.”

“Many things are paracausal, Sehun Oh,” Monggu, the usually quiet Ghost, added. “The Light. The Darkness. Ahamkaras. Guardians. The Awoken. The Nine—”

**Stop.**

“Stop,” Baekhyun blurted out forcefully. “Uh, Vivi found the CPU.”

Vivi grumbled. “No, not— oh! There it is! Deep in the maintenance levels.”

The terminal display changed— it showed them a schematic map, the CPU network marked as quantum cores in English, Chinese, and Russian. They were really deep— Baekhyun figured it would be underwater, even.

“I’ll let the others know.” Jongin stated. He turned on his comm once more and cleared his throat. “We’ve located the CPU and we’ll be heading to their location now.” 

“ _Copy that, Guardian_ ,” Suho replied after some static. “ _Any sign of the Hive_?” 

“Shh,” Tao commanded once more. “Listen.”

The screams and cries and cackles of the Hive were clear on the other side of the door. The Guardians exchanged looks. 

“Remember what I taught you,” Baekhyun reminded them darkly, already lowering his voice. “Squeeze those skulls.” 

“What about literally every other type of Hive?” Jongin retorted, the anxiety of the upcoming battle without his Light surely getting to him. “Cursed Thralls? Acolytes? Knights? Wizards? Vanquishers? Shriekers? Ogres?” 

“Shoot them before they even get close. Get them on the head before they even get the chance to shoot. Get them on the neck and thighs, their chitin is weak there. Shoot their shields with energy weapons and don’t listen to their songs. Tear their shields apart. Get them on the eye when they open. Keep your distance and shoot them with a rocket launcher.” Baekhyun recited seriously. “Does that cover it all?” 

Jongin nodded, still a bit upset. 

“I’ll go in first,” Sehun offered, reaching for the combat bow in his back. “Give ‘em something to shoot at while you sneak in and get them.”

“I know you’re all Fallen type of guys,” Baekhyun acknowledged. “But once we get past the screaming, we can do this. Are you ready?” 

“We’re going in, Suho,” Tao reported, cocking his own Bayesian MSu ominously. “Get ready for when we’ll definitely need extraction.” 

“ _Got it,_ ” Suho answered. “ _Good luck._ ”

Sehun nodded at Vivi. Vivi commanded the console to open the door, and with a ‘ding’, it did just that.

They couldn’t really hear the storm in the Festering Halls of New Pacific Arcology. No matter— they had their own storm inside. 

The Hive were pale, sinewy creatures that reminded Baekhyun of skeletons. Their eyes, no matter how many they had, always shone a bright neon green— the scavenger was unsure if he preferred that glow, or having them be eyeless, blindly finding them in the dark.

The thing that bothered Baekhyun the most about them, though, were their songs. They had many. Their screeches and cackles and whistling were all beautiful melodies to the Hive— however, they were closer to making Baekhyun’s ears bleed. 

The sound of constant gunfire from them did nothing but add to the cacophony around him. At least, it meant that they were still standing, and Baekhyun was thankful for that.

Jongin was an incredible warrior. He had unleashed a grenade with his Hadrian-A as soon as the doors opened, effectively decimating great part of the Hive that awaited them on the other side— it wasn’t his fault that for every Hive soldier, a hundred more hid in the shadows. The Titan was undeterred and armed with a non-descript auto rifle and little more, he jumped on every creature unfortunate enough to cross his path. When a Thrall jumped Jongin, instead, Baekhyun watched with pride as the redhead grabbed it by the head, and effectively squeezed, chitin and worm brain remains splattering around. 

It was disgusting. It was amazing.

Tao wasn’t far off. At last, Baekhyun could see what the big deal about the Warlock was— the man had moves for days, less like a kitten and more like a panther, armed with a sword he had taken from the Knight he had choked to the ground. Baekhyun’s advice about going for their neck hadn’t gone unheeded. No one could touch him, and the Guardian had no qualms of running straight into Hive hiding behind pillars and trees and bashing them himself. The few bullets that grazed him Candy healed effectively as fast as she could.

It was a relief to see Tao hold his ground. 

But if Baekhyun was pressed, he would have to admit that whenever _he_ wasn’t shooting or stabbing or screaming, his eyes would naturally drift to Sehun’s form. Because that— that was impressive. 

Whatever insecurity Sehun had had, it had been left at the door. He used his Light relentlessly, emitting a purple energy that made his already graceful and deadly silhouette seem even more ethereal than it was. But as beautiful as the Nightstalker was, he was lethal— Hive recoiled at the sight of his Light, as it brought them pain, yet were unavoidably attracted to Sehun like moths to a flame. Sehun let them get close, only to slash at them with spectral blades made out of pure Void. If not that, he would fire precise arrows into their weakest spots, with a speed Baekhyun could only dream of, or shoot with an energy sidearm that could weaken the strongest shield. The Hunter never hesitated, never faltered, never stopped.

He was absolutely breath-taking.

Somehow, continuously fighting like this, they managed to advance until there was nothing left, although it was a momentary respite, most likely. They came to stand before large windows, which allowed them to gaze into the ocean. They were underwater, just as Baekhyun had suspected.

There was also a giant hole, carved into the floor, and surrounded in the strange pods Hive left behind whenever they grew.

“Commander,” Baekhyun hissed through his comm, out of breath, and certain he was bleeding from somewhere. He was unsure from where, though, and didn’t bother to check— he felt too much adrenaline to feel any pain just yet. Plus— there was that hunger. He felt hungry. “We’ve survived our first wave of Hive successfully. And I think we might have a way down to the CPU.”

It wasn’t Suho who immediately responded, but rather, Chanyeol. 

“ _Thank the Traveller,_ ” The Titan uttered. “ _Your radio silence was killing m— us. Us all_.”

“You can pretend to be worried about us, too, you know?” Jongin teased, stretching his body. “We need go down a rabbit hole now. We’ll keep radio chatter to a minimum.”

Tao cried out then, stumbling back. Baekhyun grabbed for the Ace of Spades, and Jongin grabbed the first thing he found, which was a shield he had pried off the hands of a Vanquisher. Sehun pointed at the ocean, empty and vast and dark. 

“What happened?!” Baekhyun demanded.

“Pretty sure we just saw a sea monster,” Sehun replied nonchalantly. “What exactly lives in this place?”

Jongin sighed heavily. “Does it look like we have time to wonder about that?”

Tao whined. “It was scary, though! What if it breaks one of the windows and eat us?!”

Baekhyun slumped over, hands over his thighs, trying to slow down his breathing. The house cat was back.

“Tao,” He answered slowly, “It hasn’t tried to do that in centuries. I don’t think the sea monster will try and eat us _now_.”

“Says you!” Tao retorted childishly. 

“Says you!” Baekhyun echoed in an even whinier voice, before Tao had a chance to continue.

“Guys,” Sehun interrupted them both. “We have things to do. If we don't have time to wonder about what lives in Titan, we have no time to mock each other. Can we please keep going?”

Baekhyun grunted his acknowledgement. Jongin nodded, and they made their way towards the hole. It looked endless. Monggu flashed a light into it. There was a clear path down the hive gunk, but the smell was unbearable.

“Yuck,” The Ghost muttered, even if he had no nose. “I’m so glad I don’t have hands to touch that with.”

“Thanks, Monggu.” Jongin responded sarcastically. “Alright, I’ll go down first.”

He did just that, jumping in and down with a grunt. Sehun followed him quickly, eager as not to waste any more time. Tao hesitated, but Baekhyun made a ‘go on’ gesture at the Warlock, and with a deep breath, the Guardian dived after the others. 

Baekhyun took a moment to stare into the darkness. Without a Ghost by him, he realised he had no flashlight. The Deep looked enticing nonetheless, and Baekhyun licked his lips. His vision had spots in it, black spots, and really, it was strange, because it was hard for the abyss to get even darker. There was a whistling in his ears. 

“Baekhyun!” Someone called from under, but it sounded muted. He was briefly reminded of the Guardians waiting for him. What if he made his way back now, just a little backtracking, and shot himself? 

**You are not done with me.**

**You will not succumb.**

**You will save me.**

The voice was way too loud, and too painful, and Baekhyun had half a mind to cry out. He didn’t, though, and as if guided by a force besides his own, he made his way down methodically.

**You are mine.**

**Not for the Darkness to keep.**

The scavenger was certain he blacked out for a moment— because when he came to, he was standing a step away from Sehun, who was waving a hand in front of his face.

“Earth to Baekhyun,” The Hunter called with a mirth that concealed concern. “What’s wrong?”

Baekhyun shook his head, as if that would clear his mind and body. Muddily, he managed to form a thought— the infection had to be reacting to the Hive. He got an idea.

“I’m hurt somewhere,” He slurred. “Can Vivi heal me?” 

“Of course!” Vivi replied, alarmed. “Where are you—? Never mind, I will check you out myself.” 

The little light began floating all around Baekhyun, illuminating him. Once the Ghost found blood, he followed the trail, and expanded in order to release Light over Baekhyun. The scavenger instantly relaxed, as his brain became more aware once more, the whispers and spots disappearing in a moment. 

He just needed these little Light injections. Like vaccines, he figured. It would keep the Darkness at bay. 

“Hurry up,” Jongin muttered. “We’re definitely in Hive territory now. They will—”

The Titan never finished his sentence, because he got shot on the knee. He screamed, and Sehun and Tao immediately pushed forward, hiding the third Guardian. Baekhyun gingered up as well, leaving Vivi’s job half-done even when the Ghost protested.

“Vivi, help Monggu with Jongin!” Sehun ordered.

“On it!” The Hive was once more coming at them. Thralls were screaming at them as they sprinted towards the fireteam, but Baekhyun was faster— and his SUROS Regime never failed to deliver. It was an easy fix, especially with Sehun firing arrows at Acolytes, and Tao rushing forward to fight sword to sword with a large Knight. 

And then Baekhyun heard a familiar dislodging sound. 

“Shrieker!” He shrieked accordingly. “Everyone, hide!”

The Shrieker was watching them, its dark purple energy core pulsating and gyrating rapidly inside its metallic diamond-shaped armour, shooting a cluster of projectiles aimed straight at them. Tao instantly ran back towards them, finding refuge behind a pillar, while Sehun and he pulled Jongin behind what looked to be a Hive rune.

The Knight was still coming for Tao, however, and Sehun activated a bow made of Void as fast as he could to shoot three consecutive arrows at the creature before it reached the Warlock. The Knight exploded into dust and embers, Tao shielding himself as best as he could.

“Jongin, are you alright?” Baekhyun asked, and the Titan nodded with a wince.

“We need to get that Shrieker,” The redhead urged. “We need to get it while it’s open, but I don’t have any grenades left.” 

It was like a lightbulb appeared over Baekhyun’s head. He moved to unstrap the Two-Tailed Fox from his back.

“You better fucking cover me while I figure this thing out,” The scavenger commanded. “Somebody get Tao out of there, too!”

There was a horrible roar. Baekhyun winced— an ogre. Vivi scanned the air for its identity.

“Garmurg,” He uttered, terrified. “And it’s on berserk mode going straight for Tao—!”

“Jongin, help Baekhyun!” Sehun exclaimed, and he jumped out of their hiding spot to rush straight into the ogre. Baekhyun watched for a second how he expertly avoided the Shrieker’s continuous blasts, and the ogre roared again. He looked down at the rocket launcher in his hands. “Come at me, you huge oaf!”

“I won this from your boyfriend,” Baekhyun explained briskly to Jongin. “No idea how it works, so we’re gonna test it out!”

“What if it’s a dud, Baekhyun?” Jongin was covering for Sehun, attempting to shoot at the ogre, but it seemed like he had no effect on slowing it down. He groaned in frustration, but at least Tao was sprinting back to them. Jongin switched to try and shoot at the Shrieker.

“It’s not gonna be! It’s adorably murderous!” Baekhyun yelled over the actual shrieking of the Shrieker and Garmurg’s animal clamouring. There was a little tremble in the ground, and Baekhyun knew the creature had slammed its fists on it. Tao’s gasp confirmed it. 

“Sehun!”

“Stay put! He can come back, you can’t!” Jongin grabbed Tao and pulled him down. “Help me here!”

Once Baekhyun was done loading up the Two-Tailed Fox, he put it over his shoulder, and aimed directly at the eye of the Shrieker.

“Okay, baby,” He cooed at the rocket launcher. “Let’s see what you can do!” 

Two projectiles instead of one left the Two-Tailed Fox, both flying into the eye— Void and Solar. The Void supressed the Shrieker, stunning it –even if it was a cold, undead thing— into stopping its attacks. The Solar charge hit it next, and it was as if it was slowly draining the Shrieker. It screeched for the last time, before exploding grandly.

Baekhyun and Jongin looked at each other. They laughed maniacally, hysterically.

And Baekhyun was then loading up again, while Jongin and Tao shot at the ogre, which Sehun admittedly held his ground against quite well— until Garmurg grabbed the Guardian’s lithe body and threw it across the room into a pillar with a loud bellow. That had _had_ to break Sehun’s neck, and the Hunter was dead or unconscious. Tao let out a sob, but Vivi was already working his magic— the power of Light reviving Sehun in the same instant it took Baekhyun to finish up.

“Take cover, Sehun!” He called out and fired at Garmurg.

What Sehun did could only be described as a really nimble leap across the floor, before Garmurg could even attempt to grab him again. This time, it was the Solar shot which reached the creature first, and the ogre cried out in the pain of being burnt. Then, the Void got to him, and unceremoniously, Garmurg glowed green before shutting down completely and falling over.

The silence was ringing in Baekhyun’s ears. 

“That was adorably murderous alright.” Jongin conceded to Baekhyun, who laughed once more, heartily. He kissed the rocket launcher in gratefulness. Tao rushed to Sehun’s side. 

“Are you okay?!” Tao asked urgently, grabbing Sehun’s arm and lifting it, making the Hunter twirl so he could check his whole body. “I really, _really_ thought you were absolutely done for!” 

“Of course I’m fine,” Sehun deadpanned, although he sounded pleased by Tao’s distress for him. “That’s the whole point of the Light. Though I’m disappointed I didn’t make it through three weeks without dying.”

Tao let out a harsh, heavy exhale, deflating against Sehun’s body. “You can try again. Thankfully. I was so scared for a moment…” 

Sehun hummed. “You don’t have to be. I’m the Traveller’s Chosen or whatever.” 

“We still have a way to go, Guardians,” Candy reminded them, even if she sounded fond. “Vivi, what is the way?”

“Follow me,” Vivi said, and that they did. Gingerly, they had to follow Vivi into an elevator shaft, which required for some extreme jumping. They got lower and lower, and as they advanced, it got more and more claustrophobic and skewed. Baekhyun found himself pressed against Jongin’s chest or Tao’s back more than once, but it was better this way. Some Thralls attempted to ambush them, and how did they even manage to get in here was beyond Baekhyun, but they always went for Sehun first— and Sehun was a good fucking shot. 

At last, they reached a ventilation grate. Huddled like penguins, Baekhyun was feeling overheated, and impatient when Sehun didn’t really make a move. 

“Stomp on it, Sehunnie!” He dictated. “What are you waiting for, exactly?”

“I’m trying to gauge the fall, so you don’t die, Baekhyunnie,” The Hunter countered. “I’m being _nice_.” 

“I am between two furnaces and will die anyway if you don’t move it.” Baekhyun huffed. Tao turned his head at him.

“What’s wrong with a little cuddle?” The Warlock asked cutely. “They’re really good for morale, you know?” 

“So Sehun and you can cuddle, and Jongin here can cuddle Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun muttered. “You leave me out of it.”

Baekhyun couldn’t see the smirk coming from the Titan behind him, but he could feel it.

“If Chanyeol was here, would you prefer it?” The kick Baekhyun delivered to Jongin’s shin was instantaneous, and in sync with the kick Sehun delivered to the grate under him.

The Hunter ushered them back with a wave of his hand, and he climbed down. Baekhyun heard him grunt as he fell, and then watched in interest as Tao followed suit. 

It was his turn then. For a moment, he entertained the idea that he would not fit with all the weapons he was carrying, but he dove down anyway, hoping he wouldn’t break an ankle this way.

Tao and Sehun had a joint effort to catch him.

“What are you doing?!” Tao yelled. “Do you have a death wish?!”

“It wasn’t that much of a drop!” Baekhyun argued, snug in Tao's and Sehun's arms. “Besides, I couldn’t fit if I didn’t just jump.”

“A little warning would’ve been nice.” Sehun quipped, squeezing Baekhyun for a moment. 

“Here’s your warning, Sehun,” Jongin called from above. “Move over!”

The three of them stepped aside together so Jongin could swing down from the air shaft into the ground. With the four of them safe and sound and no longer in such close quarters, Baekhyun sighed happily.

“Okay,” He said. “Where is this CPU?”

“Right over here.” Vivi answered, already standing by the red, peaceful quantum core.

“Utopia to Siren’s Watch and Riptide,” Jongin called into his radio. “Can you hear us?”

“ _A little spotty, but it’s fine_ ,” Lay was the one to answer. “ _We were starting to get concerned again. Are you alright_?”

Baekhyun joined in the conversation. “It’s a labyrinth down here, to be honest with you, Lay. But we pulled through for now and we have eyes on the CPU.”

“ _Okay_ ,” Lay said simply. “ _Take it then_.”

“Alright,” Baekhyun replied, and he handed over his SUROS Regime to Tao for safekeeping. He had been brought here, after all, for his stealing skills— he’d be the one to take the CPU. 

As soon as the scavenger grabbed it, however, a deafening alarm begun to echo throughout, and the screeches of Hive made themselves known only a second after.

“ _Warning. CPU network disrupted._ ” The Operating System repeated over and over again.

“There’s no way the Hive didn’t hear that alarm.” Jongin claimed. There was some shuffling on the other side of the radio, and then it was Suho who was yelling at them: 

“ _Move it, Guardians_!”

“This way!” Vivi exclaimed, flying as fast as he could. The Guardians ran after the Ghost, as Hive began to appear from all sides— Tao, Sehun, and Jongin shot at them as much as they could with their rifles, while Baekhyun couldn’t do anything but hold the CPU close and keep it safe.

“We have the CPU and a whole Hive colony all shook up!” Sehun informed to the surface, sounding tense. “It’s a long way to the surface, Commander!” 

“ _They’re not gonna make it out of there, Suho._ ” Lay declared grimly. 

“ _Utopia. Can you make it to the centre of the Arcology? We should be able to send someone to pick you up,_ ” Suho answered. “ _Chanyeol_? _Gayeon_?”

“ _On it_ ,” The male Titan replied shortly. “ _We’re taking the Vimana, Baekhyun_!”

“ _I’m flying_ ,” Gayeon stated just as curtly. 

“Just hurry the fuck up!” Baekhyun yelled. As they ran through the throes of Hive coming their way, he spotted something and pointed forward. “Tank! Get in it!”

The Guardians with him didn’t even need to be told twice. The Drake had no armament, but it didn’t matter— they could crush Hive with it. 

“Anybody got a tank license?” He joked and was shocked to see Tao nod as the Warlock got into the driver’s seat. “Seriously?”

“Yes!” Tao confirmed, exchanging the SUROS Regime for the CPU, and leaving the core in his lap. “Now shoot like crazy!”

Baekhyun did just that, perching up on one of the sides of the Drake Tank. They moved way faster like this, and indeed, whatever Hive came their way from the front, Tao ran over like they were ants.

It was through this way that Baekhyun could see just how infected Titan was— rotten to its core with Hive, hundreds and hundreds of them coming at them. How long had this gone without any Guardian or the Vanguard or even the Hidden noticing? How long would it be until Savathûn had the moon all to herself, much like Crota had done once to Luna? 

The Darkness was taking over. It was a tragic, terrifying sight. 

And then, somehow, they were out in the surface of the Arcology once more, and Baekhyun’s own lilac and red Häkke Vimana was waiting for them at the end of a long bridge.

“ _We have eyes on you, Utopia!_ ” Chanyeol cheered. “ _We’ll meet you at the end of the road!_ ” 

The storm was clearing, when they were back safe and sound at the station Suho and Lay had appropriated. Lay got to work quickly once he had the CPU in his hands, barely sparing them a glance even if they were all bent out of shape in comparison to the others. Baekhyun knew better than to be offended, especially when Suho offered them a proud smile.

“Good work— all of you,” He commended. “We’ll have those transmissions decrypted in no time, and we’ll be able to know our next step forward.” 

“Suho,” Tao began. “The colony is absolutely out of control. There are hundreds— no, thousands of Hive right under us.” 

“Also, there’s sea monsters,” Sehun added. “Thought you should know.”

Baekhyun, feeling lightheaded once more, couldn’t be bothered with listening in on what was probably important strategy. He could hear his heart beating in his ears, blood pumping intensely, even after having a short flight to calm down.

He couldn’t even take a look at the pile of things Jongdae, Kyungsoo, and Suho had all recovered from his ship and from the Fallen. Still, he threw himself on the metal floor next to it, removing his helmet at last, and breathing in clear, rich-in-oxygen air.

He closed his eyes. When he opened his them once more, one of the objects in the pile caught his eye. Baekhyun grabbed it mindlessly, the remains of Light in the small device calling to him.

“Dead Ghosts,” Kyungsoo confirmed the question Baekhyun hadn’t even formulated aloud. The grey-haired man looked up at the short Titan. “The Fallen had a bunch. They’ve must’ve been systematically hunting them down and killing them. All of the ones Suho had lost track of are accounted for here.” 

“They left nothing behind.” Baekhyun mused, voice raspy. He examined the Ghost shell in his hands. It had a pattern that resembled a star map, edges soft. However, it was empty, and as such, the star map couldn’t be appreciated fully. He was drawn to it, immediately. “Can I keep this one?” 

“You can keep all of them, Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo responded in a low voice. “What else are we gonna do with them? At least you have a use for them.” 

“I do,” Baekhyun admitted, turning the shell in his hands over and over again. “I do.”

He closed his eyes again, the dead Ghost cradled in his hands. He fell asleep.

He was approaching a planet before the Sun. He was flying at high speeds, but it didn’t feel uncomfortable, even when he stared right into the star. It was a pretty sight. Peaceful. Baekhyun wished he could stay like this forever. 

However, not out of his own volition, Baekhyun veered, surrounding the planet quickly. It made his stomach sick, when he saw and realised— it was Mercury. It had to be. And half of it was wrecked, cracked open, its molten core bare and exposed.

**See what they have done to me.**

**While you sit idly waiting for your Guardians to rise to the occasion.**

**I have been punished for what we have done.**

Baekhyun passed the debris as if it was nothing. On the other side of Mercury, between the planet and the Sun, was an enormous warship Baekhyun instantly recognised as the one he had seen in his vision before. The craft was siphoning the planet from one end and injecting a bright blue stream of plasma into the Sun through the other end.

 **Behold.**

**The Almighty.**

Baekhyun screamed into space. He could feel the planet’s pain as if it were its own, but most importantly— he could see how the sunspot the beam was aiming at grew and grew, and the Sun rumbled ominously.

The Almighty vanished, teleporting away most likely. There was nothing but the giant black sunspot left, which grew and grew and grew. And Baekhyun was pulled back and back and back, so quickly, he felt like he had whiplash. 

He was planets away, now. He could still see the Sun. He saw it as it imploded, as it expanded quickly, as it became a supernova, swallowing celestial body after celestial body until finally, it reached him. 

And it consumed him, burning him alive in an agonising second. 

The storm had cleared, but it was within Baekhyun now. He woke up screaming in a panic, and someone grabbing his arms, and calling his name.

“Baekhyun!” It was Chanyeol, bless his heart, and Baekhyun searched for those almond-shaped eyes he had grown to be so comforted by, entranced by, grabbing onto what he thought had to be Chanyeol’s hair or cheeks. He couldn’t tell. His vision was all black, or all white, still consumed by the flames of the Sun of his nightmares. “Baekhyun, wake up! You’re safe!” 

He recognised Jongdae’s voice, but not what he said. Slowly, piece by piece, the scavenger found himself being able to see again, and the first thing he saw was Chanyeol’s face, albeit blurrily.

“Chanyeol,” He rasped out pathetically. “Chanyeol, I—”

The blond shushed him gently, and he moved in, pulling Baekhyun into a tight hug. “It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re okay.”

Was he repeating it for Baekhyun’s or his own comfort? It didn’t matter to Baekhyun. He hugged back, breathing heavily, feeling like he would die any second now. There was a Ghost shell crashed between them, he realised idly.

Slowly, everything else came into place. The other Guardians were watching them both with different expressions of horror and gravity. Jongdae was by his side as well, watching him closely. 

“What— what happened?” Baekhyun tried. “I had a nightmare.” 

“We were talking about the Cabal transmissions,” Suho began carefully. “And you began thrashing.”

The Commander paused.

“What…” He hesitated to ask, but then Suho just went for it. “What did you dream about, Baekhyun?”

Chanyeol pulled away slowly from Baekhyun, and Baekhyun was already missing the warmth. He let him go though, taking in big gulps of air and then releasing equally big exhales, all measured and counted. Six times to ten, he counted. 

“I saw a supernova,” Baekhyun explained as simply as he could. “And it consumed me. Burned me alive. There was a—”

“—Ship?” Lay suggested somewhat gloomily.

Baekhyun gaped, without saying anything.

“You dreamt of our discussion. You must’ve been listening in your sleep,” The Hunter concluded, even if his eyes were sharp and unwavering on Baekhyun’s form. “Why it was so intense, though, I don’t know.” 

“What did you discuss?” Baekhyun asked. “W-What did the transmissions say?”

No one spoke at first, the atmosphere dark and morose. Then, it was Chanyeol who began talking, directly at Baekhyun.

“The Red Legion have a… Weapon,” The Titan started. “They call it the Almighty.” 

Baekhyun’s stomach dropped.

“It’s the crown jewel of the Legion and the life’s work of Dominus Ghaul,” Chanyeol continued, moving his hand to be on top of Baekhyun’s own trembling one, shell still in it. “It’s how he has subjugated hundreds of worlds. The Almighty annihilates stars. There is so little information on him because nothing and no one has survived Ghaul’s ambition.” 

Chanyeol sighed.

“And he wants the Traveller’s Light,” The blond finished, offering Baekhyun an empty smile. “Just like you suggested to Lord Donghae. So the Almighty is pointed at our Sun right now.”

“The war’s over,” Kyungsoo muttered. “And we’ve lost.” 

Baekhyun stayed silent. Their eyes were still all on him, watching his every move, but he wasn’t bleeding, nor he was sick. At least, the Nine had been kind to him this time. 

“You’re burning up.” Chanyeol mumbled, mostly to himself. Baekhyun snatched his hand away, even if the dejected and hurt look Chanyeol gave him tore his heart up. 

“What do you want us to do, Commander?” Baekhyun questioned Suho, surprising even himself. He knew there was a chance it wasn’t even him talking, but the lines had become blurry. “Do we sit and wait for death?” 

Suho levelled the scavenger with a long stare. He was calm, arms crossed over his chest, and it was a couple of minutes before the senior Titan spoke.

“We built our home under the protection of the Traveller,” The man stated slowly. “When our enemies attacked, we built a wall that stood for centuries— I was there. Now, walls mean nothing.” 

The Vanguard Titan stood up straight and began alternating his eyes through the other Guardians in the room, taking in their defeated forms.

“The Red Legion has taken our home. Taken our Light,” He said emphatically. “And now, they threaten our very existence! I will not stand for it. We will defeat this Almighty.” 

“Suho,” Lay started, “How—”

Suho interrupted the Hunter. “Together. That’s how. We fight together, or we die trying. I need my fireteam. I need the Vanguard.”

“What do you want us to do?” Sehun asked. Suho smiled determinedly at the boy.

“I want you to find me Kris and Xiumin.” Suho declared.

The storm was raging once more, stronger than before. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lots of bonding and pairings here!! All action can have a little romance, right? What do you think so far? :) if updates become slower from now on, I'm sorry. I'm on grad school and my thesis is T O U G H. Plus, Destiny's about to release a new expansion, WHICH TOTALLY HINTS AT EVERYTHING I'VE BEEN THEORISING WITH THIS FIC, so hopefully it all aligns :)))):):):)):) but I'll be playing, surely. It's a month till end so don't worry!


	6. living metal, incomprehensible intelligence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! so, I'm thinking some visual aids might be good to add. Read through this and if you think it would be good, then let me know and I will add them!  
> edit: fixed typos and continuity errors. that's what I get for uploading as soon as I'm done!

**vi. living metal, incomprehensible intelligence**

  
  


Thinking like Kris Wu was no easy feat.

By comparison and in a shocking twist, Xiumin had been quite simple to figure out. Commander Suho had laid against one of the big computer stations, put a hand on his chin, and threw out a rhetorical question— “If we were Xiumin, where would we go?”

And Jongdae had looked up to the Titan as if he had been struck by the Arc lightning of inspiration.

“Io,” The younger Warlock asserted with confidence. “In a time like this, Vanguard Jongok would want answers. She’d go to Io for them, and Xiumin wouldn’t let her go on her own. He’d follow her anywhere.”

Suho smiled brightly. “That’s brilliant.”

Lay hummed in agreement. “Io _is_ a meaningful place to all Warlocks. I wouldn’t be surprised if Luhan showed up there, too, if this war has blown up enough dust for him to come out of hiding.”

Suho’s smile diminished somewhat, and he scoffed. “It’s very doubtful anything would make him look away from the Collective, if it hasn’t absorbed him by now. However, Io does sound like the place to look for Xiumin. What about Sungwoo… And Kris?”

There was a heavy pause. Wasn’t that the one million glimmer question? The pensive silence that befell the group said it all.

“Sungwoo is probably taking a vacation somewhere,” Sehun said dryly. He quickly backtracked, “Not that I mean any disrespect, but—”

Suho chuckled, shaking his head. “None taken. It is true.”

“I have only worked with Guardian Kris once,” Chanyeol admitted, scratching at one of his ears sheepishly. “Way less than you, sir. But he did give me the impression of being… How to say it? He was extremely—”

“—Paranoid?” Baekhyun offered only half-playfully. Chanyeol winced as if that would keep him from laughing, but he nodded.

“I didn’t want to say it like that,” The Titan tried. “I’d say he values his privacy?”

“Yes,” Suho agreed morosely, even if he hadn't lost his stellar smile just yet. “That’s one way to put it. Unfortunately, him _valuing his privacy_ makes it impossible to just track him down when he doesn’t want to be found.”

“And he never wants to be found.” Byul added in that serious voice of hers, which made Baekhyun smirk softly. He was focused on his own task, scrolling down Hidden logs as Kyungsoo subtly tried to peek, to try and find Kris’s last entry. It was before the invasion, true, but maybe it would hold insights to wherever he was?

Never mind. It was literally a report about how counterintuitive Vex teleporters were. Fuck, Kris was so boring.

“Kris is so boring,” Baekhyun repeated under his breath. By him, Kyungsoo chuckled. “No one this boring should get to be this hard to find.”

“How do you usually find him when you need him?” Chanyeol wondered, searching for something in Baekhyun’s face. Baekhyun looked up, and just shrugged.

“He usually just finds _me_ , instead,” He replied. “He’s literally the last one on my to-call list.”

“Really?” Kyungsoo asked in a deadpan voice. “Then who were you calling every night back in the EDZ? Was it someone also—”

“—Okay,” Baekhyun interrupted the Titan, shutting his datapad harshly just to keep Kyungsoo away from seeing. “First of all, how do you know about that? Second of all, expose me like that, why don’t you, D.O? Third of all, when your house gets invaded, your priorities change.”

“You weren’t exactly quiet.” Was all that Kyungsoo had to say. “What does it matter? So you care about him, that’s fine.”

Baekhyun squawked.

“Care about him? _Care about him_?” Baekhyun repeated indignantly, even if he floundered to add anything else. “Real funny, D.O. So funny. I’m cracking up.”

Lay waved Baekhyun off.

“Don’t listen to him, D.O,” The Hunter intervened. “It’s their thing, pretending not to stand each other. They’re quite the team up, though.”

“I didn’t know you had worked with Kris.” Chanyeol commented, and did he sound like he was accusing Baekhyun of something?

“It’s an occupational hazard having to work with Kris,” Baekhyun defended himself, frowning. “The only good thing about Kris is RouRou.” Then, his face fell as he realised what he had said. “RouRou!”

“RouRou!” Lay echoed in realisation, slapping his own forehead. “Of course! RouRou is a snitch!”

Suho turned to look at Lay with his smile intact, though it was clear he was no longer very happy.

“Lay,” Suho began. “All this time, and not once did you think of scanning for Kris’s Ghost?”

“Neither did you, Commander,” Lay retorted airily, as if it wasn’t a big deal at all. “Not that it would’ve mattered, anyway. We didn’t have enough horsepower to just scan the solar system for a teeny-tiny Ghost that could’ve been cloaked. But with the whole New Pacific Arcology behind us, we just might be able to. Cat?”

Cat nodded without a word and floated to one of the newly functioning consoles in the power station, hacking into it immediately. Lay smiled proudly, and turned to Suho. “Now, we only have to wait.”

“What do you even mean, RouRou is a snitch?” Jongdae asked, unable to keep laughter from his voice. Lay chuckled too.

“If RouRou ever thinks Kris is in over his head when doing something, he sends a secret message or distress signal. By now, we should hope he thinks Kris is in over his head, wherever that may be,” The Hunter explained. “It’s been an ongoing inside joke in the Tower for centuries. I’m surprised we didn’t think of it before.”

Suho sighed as if Lay was the bane of his existence.

“Well, at least you’ve thought about it.” The Titan concluded. “Baekhyun and you will be the ones to go look for him, once we have a location.” 

“On our own?” Baekhyun questioned. Suho shook his head. 

“Wherever you may have to go, you will take Chanyeol Park and Sehun Oh with you,” The Commander decided. Once more, that bright smile appeared fully, the one with hidden intent he had given Baekhyun only hours before— it had ended with Baekhyun in the middle of a Hive colony- Baekhyun dreaded where it would take him now. “I know you work well with Sehun now, and Chanyeol is one of our most capable Guardians.”

Baekhyun glanced over at Chanyeol, who winked at him. Sooman-52 had referred to the blond Titan the same way as Suho had before he died. Baekbeom thought he was a Godslayer. Baekhyun reckoned the man was extremely attractive. Still, he hadn’t had the chance to see him in action at all. 

In a way, he hoped he wouldn’t have. Seeing Chanyeol in action meant they would be in trouble.

“You got it, Commander.” Chanyeol answered with a resolute nod.

“Sure,” Sehun added casually with a shrug. “I’m down.”

“What about the rest of us, Suho?” Tao asked, looking worried— most likely about being separated from Sehun. “Are we staying here?” 

Suho shook his head again.

“This place has proven to be too dangerous to stay in without our Light,” He declared. “No. We’ll be leaving as well. Someone needs to fetch Jongok and Xiumin, after all.”

“I volunteer!” Jongdae nearly shouted. The Warlock cleared his throat, cheeks turning pink. He lowered his voice. “I mean, I-I volunteer.”

“I volunteer to be Chen’s keeper,” Kyungsoo spoke up, ignoring Jongdae’s resulting squawk. “He’ll need it.”

“And I volunteer to be Chen’s keeper’s keeper,” Jongin quipped besides him, a small smirk on his lips. Kyungsoo smirked back at the other Titan. “We’ll make a great fireteam, I’m sure.” 

Suho chuckled once more.

“It does sound great,” He commended. “Gayeon and Tao, you’ll be coming with me.”

Gayeon nodded, while Tao looked troubled. The female Titan asked, “Where we’ll be headed, sir?”

“Back to Earth and to refining our counteroffensive,” Suho stated clearly. “I heard there’s a really nice farm in the EDZ I’d like to visit.”

That night became a waiting game.

Cat couldn’t work that fast without the Light, even if he had the whole of one of Titan’s cities at his disposition, and the CPU the now disbanded Utopia fireteam had stolen hooked right into the consoles he was using. He had refused to stop even when the Guardians offered, however, and Vivi had eventually decided to help him out.

Their dinner consisted of really dry protein bars and chunks of salted beef jerky, along with water they had brought along from the farm— it had been one of the few things Jongdae, Kyungsoo, and Suho had recovered from the Fallen, and no one was willing to brave the storm once more just to get something more appetizing from their ships. Not that they really had anything. It was horrible and bland, and Baekhyun had made sure to let everyone know that as often as he could.

“Just give me your share,” Chanyeol had uttered through mouthfuls of his own bar, sitting right by Baekhyun’s side against a wall, and Baekhyun had to question his taste in men, wrinkling his nose in distaste. “I don’t mind.”

“I’m not going hungry just because it’s absolutely terrible,” Baekhyun protested. “Chew with your mouth closed, will you?”

Chanyeol offered him a grin, mouth intentionally full of food. Baekhyun groaned, rolling his eyes with fondness.

It was funny, somehow— how drawn to Chanyeol he felt. Even when avoiding him, it had been impossible to just not pay attention to the other man, and Baekhyun was quite aware he was starting to catch bigger feelings for the Titan.

He was also mindful of the fact that it was a bad idea for a handful of reasons— because they were in the middle of a war they maybe wouldn’t survive. Because Chanyeol was immortal –or would be, soon— and Baekhyun was not. Because Baekhyun was bad at intimate relationships. Because Baekhyun had secrets Chanyeol would probably not forgive him for. Because Baekhyun was infected with Darkness and making bad deals with the Nine to try and save himself. Because Chanyeol had no past while Baekhyun had too much baggage. Because Chanyeol was a hero and Baekhyun was a scavenger.

He also realised it was easy to forget about all of that when he was near Chanyeol. Chanyeol made him forget. And Baekhyun found himself not having the courage to fight it.

He could allow himself this small pleasure.

“I wanted to ask you about something,” Chanyeol interrupted Baekhyun’s reflections, and Baekhyun realised the blond had even swallowed. Proud of him, he hummed and nodded at Chanyeol so he would continue. “You seem to be close to Guardian Kris. And to Guardian Lay. I thought you didn’t like Guardians.”

Baekhyun half-smiled at Chanyeol.

“Are you jealous?” The scavenger lived for the sputtering Chanyeol did, the handsome man turning awkward and nervous in a millisecond, ears and cheeks and nose red.

“Can’t I just be surprised?” Chanyeol asked, attempting to regain some dignity while Baekhyun laughed at him. “You don’t make your hopefully former contempt for Guardians a secret, you know? You did say earlier you had a problem with Guardians, too.”

“I did say that.” Baekhyun concurred, mirth evident in his voice.

“So?” Chanyeol pressed, eyes widening a little. “What gives? Kris and Lay are— they’re kinda old.”

“They’ve been around my whole life,” Baekhyun told the Guardian, smirk still present, albeit it became softer at the Titan’s sincere curiosity. “And they’ll probably be around once I’m gone.”

Chanyeol frowned. “Don’t say that— I just. I wanna know how you guys came to be… Friends? Friendly?”

“I’d say we’re frenemies. At least Kris and I.” Baekhyun replied. He looked around almost paranoid, even if none of the others were paying them any attention. He had been banished around the fifth complaint about the food from the rest of the group, and Chanyeol and he had adopted a corner of the station for themselves. He continued in a whisper, “The three of us are Hidden agents. Lay and I met this way, and we’ve worked together a few times. He makes it hard not to get along with, Guardian or not.”

Chanyeol nodded. Lay was very amicable, after all.

“And Kris, well, Kris actually recommended me for the position to Jongok,” He revealed. “He told her I was a sneaky little shit, perfect to be a spy, even if I wasn’t a Guardian.”

Chanyeol nodded once more but said nothing. Maybe he perceived that Baekhyun wasn’t done just yet, and indeed, Baekhyun took a deep breath before continuing.

“I told you earlier I lost my dad in a mission gone wrong,” Baekhyun reminded the Titan. He looked down at his protein bar, turning it over in his hands. “It was Kris who rescued Baekbeom and I. He saved Beom’s life, actually, and he’s been really protective of us two ever since.”

The grey-haired man snorted.

“He also got our ship confiscated, though,” Baekhyun added only slightly bitterly. “Because it turns out RouRou _is_ a snitch, and we weren’t exactly following the Vanguard’s rules.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol said. “That’s… Complicated, I guess.”

“Tell me about it.” Baekhyun remarked. Talking about Kris was like opening a faucet, he realised quickly. He chalked it up to all the unresolved feelings the Hunter gave him. “Kris has never been able to decide if he wants me to be his equal or if he wants to keep me from the world. I’ve told him the older brother position has been taken in my life since I was born, but…” He sighed. “…I suppose he just feels it might be inappropriate to be anything else.”

That made Chanyeol’s eyes look like they would pop out of their sockets at any given moment.

“Wait, wait,” The Titan stopped Baekhyun, raising his hands to his chest. “Anything else? Anything else than your older brother? As in—”

“—Lovers, Chanyeollie,” Baekhyun completed for him, chuckling, but it wasn’t a particularly happy sound. “Lovers, just like Kyungsoo and Jongin. I even kissed him once, confessed and all. Got rejected, obviously.”

Chanyeol gaped at him. It took him a good few moments before he composed himself, and mumbled cautiously: 

“What this before or after Taeyeon?”

“After,” Baekhyun stopped to think. “Before? During? Like I said, he’s always been around.”

“Do you… Still want him?”

Baekhyun snorted again. He looked up at Chanyeol once more and smiled at the Titan reassuringly. Then, he leaned his head on Chanyeol’s shoulder as if it was the most natural thing in the world. It felt that way, at least.

“Nah.” He finally replied, and warmth bloomed in his stomach at the way Chanyeol seemed to sag in relief. “That’s in the past. Plus, I like blonds better.”

If Chanyeol understood the direct jab for what it was, he didn’t immediately react to it. However, slowly, carefully, he leaned his own head on top of Baekhyun’s.

“I’m glad.” He whispered in that deep voice of his at last.

They stayed like that for a while. Baekhyun nearly thought he would fall asleep like this, just like that night on the Tangled Shore –and he wasn’t opposed to that at all— when Chanyeol spoke up once more.

“So, are you gonna eat that or…?”

Baekhyun tossed the uneaten protein bar in his hands to the other side of the station, just to be a little shit, giggling when Chanyeol whined.

Thinking like Kris Wu was no easy feat. Baekhyun couldn’t see the logic he followed, no matter how hard he tried.

“Why—” He began, stopping himself almost as soon as he began. He shook his head. Why did he even try to understand Kris? That was the real question. 

“Why is Kris’s signal coming from an empty centaur?” Tao asked for Baekhyun instead, sounding just as surprised as Baekhyun felt. 

“More importantly, what’s a centaur?” Sehun wondered.

“It’s a rock in the outer reaches of the system,” Lay answered absently, deep in thought. “They’re not planets nor satellites, they're just… Rocks. This one is called Nessus.”

Cat and Vivi had finished their scans only a few minutes before, waking everyone up in their excitement. The same excitement had not allowed them to focus on how this Nessus was supposed to be absolutely unoccupied until they were all crowding around it. 

“I don’t get it,” Tao said once more. “Why would Kris go there at all?”

“Our fireteam who will travel to Nessus will figure that one out, son.” Suho comforted the Warlock, just as nonplussed as him and Baekhyun and everyone who was listening. “It’s late by Earth’s standards, but I suppose there’s no time to lose when our Vanguard Hunter is on an uncharted world.” 

The Commander’s eyes travelled from Lay, to Chanyeol, to Baekhyun, and finally, to Sehun. They all understood the unspoken order. 

“We’ll take our leave right away,” Lay assured. “I just need to get some fuel to the Holacanthus so we don’t get stranded halfway to it.”

Lay left the station, Cat lingering behind to talk to what would be his companions for a while.

“So, here’s the thing,” Cat began, in that same sleepy tone his Guardian had. “RouRou _is_ sending a distress signal, _but_ it’s being boosted by something in Nessus that isn’t RouRou. No idea what, though.” 

“I suppose whatever it is, it wants us to pick up Kris and Rou, right?” Baekhyun jested, already moving towards the haul he would have to get into the Vimana. “Get them away from their isolated rock. Honestly, I'd also want them off my property. I bet they're terrible neighbours.”

“What could be it, though?” Sehun questioned aloud. He was apparently done penting up his curiosity, it looked like. Baekhyun was glad. “If Nessus is really supposed to be uninhabited, what is boosting the signal?” 

“Maybe it’s the reason Guardian Kris went there,” Chanyeol suggested pensively. “We’ll just have to go and see.”

Saying goodbye was strange. After sharing the same spaces with most of the Guardians for what was coming to be nearly three weeks now, Baekhyun found himself reluctant to be parted from them, as he went handing out firm handshakes to each one and getting refused each time— only to receive a hug instead, in different measures.

“Oh, get in here, you!” Jongdae would exclaim, hugging him and patting his back. “Stay out of trouble and out of bad spots, okay?”

“Please behave.” Kyungsoo would mutter, as he half-hugged Baekhyun in the harshest hug the man had ever received. “We’ll see you back in the EDZ.”

“Is it weird I have grown attached to you?” Jongin would confess, chuckling awkwardly, as he held Baekhyun close, petting his grey hair in an attempt to seem less affectionate and failing.

“Please, take care of Sehun!” Tao would plead, tears shining in his already puffy eyes, embracing Baekhyun tightly and without any modicum of shame. “And please, take care of yourself. Say hi to Kris for me.” 

“We’ll meet back in the farm,” Baekhyun reassured the group confidently. “And we’ll be one step closer to retaking the City from the Red Legion.” 

Suho nodded at them, and smiled that bright, disarming grin of his.

“Fly safe, Guardians. Be brave.”

Almost eight hours later, they were coming up on Nessus’s orbit. Baekhyun’s Häkke Vimana was no match for Lay’s Holacanthus, whom would’ve probably arrived at least a couple hours earlier— however, the Hunter was patient with the old ship and its scavenger.

Lay was using the time to get himself acquainted with Sehun, anyway. He had insisted on travelling with the youngest Guardian, while Baekhyun commuted with Chanyeol. 

“Hunters need to stick together,” Lay claimed with a dimpled smile. “And I wanna get to know the Traveller’s Chosen better. Maybe write a log on my experiences, like _somebody_ should’ve.”

Baekhyun cringed but didn’t complain much— he wasn’t about to say ‘no’ to an opportunity to be with Chanyeol, even if Chanyeol spent most of the time scrutinising Baekhyun’s music collection, scarce as it was. The man knew his stuff, even if he claimed he didn’t.

“I don’t understand this language,” The Titan admitted during one particular song, pouting and looking extremely cute as he attempted to decipher anything from it. Baekhyun did his best to just stare forward. “It sounds nice, but what does it say?” 

“It’s Spanish,” Toben informed his Guardian. “It’s hard to find speakers of it, nowadays, though there are Hispanic quarters in the Last City. My research tells me this song is called _Sabor A Mí_ — Taste of Me.”

“Taste of Me?” Chanyeol repeated, the man in the song crooning about vanity and poverty to Baekhyun. “What’s it about?” 

“It’s a love song.” Baekhyun replied, and then promptly sang along the ballad he had heard a thousand times before. He hardly had an accent, now, after practicing on his lonesome for so long.

_Pasarán más de mil años, muchos más_

_Yo no sé si tenga amor la eternidad_

_Pero allá, tal como aquí,_

_En la boca llevarás_

_Sabor a mí_

He finished gently, licking his lips. He turned to Chanyeol and laughed at the blond’s stunned expression.

“More than a thousand years might pass, many more,” Baekhyun began translating sweetly, no longer singing. “I don’t know if eternity has love— but even there, just like here, in your mouth you will carry the taste of me.” 

Chanyeol’s and Toben’s silence was making Baekhyun nervous.

“That’s what it says,” He continued, finding himself feeling shy. “It’s pretty, isn’t it?”

“I’ll say.” Chanyeol answered, sounding absolutely astonished. Toben made up for the Titan’s sudden lack of eloquency.

“Baekhyun, that was really amazing. You can really sing!” The Ghost praised earnestly. Baekhyun blushed and grinned.

“Aw, thanks, Toben,” He replied honestly. “I knew you could be nice to me.” 

Chanyeol shook his head, as if in disbelief.

“I don’t think you’re understanding how absolutely breath-taking that was.” Chanyeol finally admitted, seemingly unable to take his eyes off Baekhyun. The scavenger only flushed further. “Were you a singer in your past life?”

Baekhyun laughed. “I didn’t have any past life, remember?” 

“You make it easy to forget.” Chanyeol confessed seriously. There were many things that Baekhyun could’ve said to argue with that, starting with how he hardly felt like a Guardian, but when Chanyeol echoed his own sentiments so easily, how could he?

“ _We’re here,_ ” Lay announced after a heavy, significant silence settled in the Häkke Vimana. “ _Baekhyun. Does that look like a barren centaur to you_?” 

Baekhyun, who had been admittedly distracted, took a peek at the centaur, and frowned. He could see red forests before they even penetrated the atmosphere. More importantly, Nessus had an atmosphere.

“Definitely not,” The grey-haired man replied. “So much for nothing being here, right?”

“ _Right._ ” Lay huffed out. “ _Let’s be cautious down there_.”

“This place has been terraformed.” Chanyeol appraised with clear shock. “How? Did the Traveller ever make a stop here and just didn’t let anyone know?”

“Not only the Traveller can terraform.” Baekhyun reminded him. 

“The Vex?” Toben wondered, only to receive no answer. No matter, because they would soon know. 

Toben had been definitely right, much to Baekhyun’s despair, and it became clear as they found somewhere to land near where RouRou’s signal was coming from. The environment had been completely Vexified— it had many Vex structures, replicating cubes and cylinders, white and glowing radiolarian streams, and alien crimson flora Baekhyun had never seen before. The trees reminded him of the ones in his visions of Mercury, twisting into the air and the cerulean skies. 

“A Machine World.” Chanyeol muttered in awe.

“ _Baekhyun_ ,” Lay’s voice crackled through the radio. “ _Let’s land on that spire. It’s high enough so we can pin down Kris’s location and not get shot at by robots_.” 

“Copy that,” Baekhyun answered, spotting the spire the Hunter was referring to. “See you in a bit.” 

Side by side, the Holacanthus looked even more impressive while the Vimana looked even shittier. Baekhyun sighed deeply, as Chanyeol and he exited the craft with their usual armament, and the Titan didn’t even tease the scavenger about being overloaded with weight. Sehun emerged from the Holacanthus and waved, already wearing his helmet.

“Hey lovebirds,” The Hunter greeted them. “How was the road date?”

“Shut up, Sehun,” Baekhyun asserted. “Why aren’t you a dear and track Kris’s signal?”

“Oh, but of course,” Sehun responded. “You didn’t even need to ask. Vivi is already working on it. Vivi?”

“I’m getting something,” The Ghost commented. “Take a listen to this— streaming now.”

There was static in Baekhyun’s ears suddenly, startling him and making him jump. Chanyeol laughed at him, but then grew serious as Kris’s cut off voice came through.

“ _In over my head— Vex trap— total mess—_ ” The Hunter could be heard saying. And then, suddenly, questioning: “ _Mongryong?_ ” 

It was over in an instant. The four of the humans exchanged looks. Lay fit his helmet over his head and pulled his hood up. 

“What’s a Mongryong?” He asked. 

“It can be a dream or a dragon in Old Korean,” Cat told them. “Maybe it’s what boosted RouRou’s signal?”

“Hopefully it’s a dream, then,” Baekhyun muttered darkly, reloading the Ace of Spades out of habit. “I do _not_ want to deal with a Vex dragon.”

“I don’t think there is such a thing as a Vex dragon.” Lay replied for all consolation, scanning the horizon with his eyes. He pointed to a certain spot. “There. What do you see?”

Sehun put a hand over his eyes as a visor.

“That’s a crash site,” The Hunter said. “Kris’s jumpship?” 

“Definitely. We need to get down there.” Lay kept looking around, and spotted a gravity lift. “A-ha! Let’s use that!”

Baekhyun hated gravity lifts. He made a face behind the lens of his helmet. “Do we absolutely have to?”

“Do you see a flight of stairs down this thing?” Lay retorted. “Come on, we have a mission. What if that Mongryong thing ate Kris already?”

Then the Hidden agent was taking long strides towards the lift, and just jumped down it like it was no big deal. Nothing was a big deal to Lay, if Baekhyun stopped to think about it. Baekhyun, despite himself, shouted after him, making Chanyeol and Sehun laugh.

“Don’t be a baby, Baekhyunnie,” Sehun poked fun at the elder. “Even I know these things are made to control your way down. Just hold Chanyeol’s hand, won’t you?”

And then Sehun was jumping after Lay, and Baekhyun groaned.

“If that Mongryong thing ate Kris,” He began morosely, “Then it serves him right.”

Chanyeol nearly guffawed besides him but controlled himself quickly. He offered Baekhyun his hand without another word, and Baekhyun stared at it for a good minute, before grabbing it harshly.

Not for the first time since meeting Chanyeol, he wished neither of them had been wearing gloves. The Titan took his sweet time leading Baekhyun to the lift, savouring the moment, it looked like. Baekhyun didn't comment, part embarrassed, and also part savouring-the-moment as well.

It only served to lull Baekhyun into a false sense of security. He had himself nearly fooled into thinking it was just a romantic stroll, when Chanyeol was running and pulling Baekhyun with him down the abyss.

Baekhyun screamed, and Chanyeol laughed heartily. Of course, they were free-falling slowly, surely, and completely in control. Still, watching the environment of Nessus pass quickly gave Baekhyun nausea. 

Before he knew it, he was stumbling on the ground, falling unceremoniously as Chanyeol fell with him— but the Titan was having the time of his life, cackling almost breathlessly.

“How could you not warn me?!” Baekhyun yelled, completely betrayed. 

Sehun was also laughing, bent over his stomach. Lay had his hands on his hips, yet he sounded amused.

“I had forgotten you were such a drama queen, Baekhyun Byun,” The Hunter teased once the Guardians calmed down a little. “I had missed it. Now get up— we have a ship to reach.”

The trek towards the crash site was fortunately uneventful and void of any Vex. It was almost suspicious, even if Baekhyun preferred it that way. Unfortunately, however, being close to the crash site only confirmed it was definitely Kris’s ship, the sullied red and white of the Last City almost camouflaging against the red and white of Nessus. 

Sehun, faster than them whether by virtue of the Light or virtue of his compared youth, had reached it before the rest of them and was climbing the side of it. He deployed Vivi over a terminal on the hull of the craft, examining it, when suddenly—

“— _Hello_!” A cheerful, energetic voice greeted them, and Baekhyun jumped at the unfamiliar sound. He was feeling real on edge today. “ _Are you here to rescue the Kris Wu_?”

“Whoa, what the hell is that—” Sehun was saying.

“—Hello!” Lay exclaimed back, absolutely undeterred. “Yes, we are! Are you the Mongryong?”

“ _Yes! I am Mongryong! Call me Mongryong_!” Mongryong introduced itself— or themselves.

“Mongryong, it’s really nice to meet you,” Lay continued to play along. “Can you tell us where Kris Wu is?”

Baekhyun whispered a “what the fuck” to Lay, who only shrugged. 

“ _The Kris Wu is currently caught in a teleportation loop_!” Mongryong announced, still not losing its cheery tone. “ _He’s over there. Whoop! Now he’s over there. Oop! And now he’s over **there**_! _Fun_!”

“Oh, I get it now!” Baekhyun cried out in frustration, kicking a rock. “He’s been researching Vex teleporters. Of course, he came here.”

“ _Yes_!” Mongryong confirmed. “ _The Kris Wu has been causing a lot of trouble around Nessus! It’s the most interesting thing to happen to me in nearly five hundred years!_ ” 

“We’ll get him off your hands, Mongryong,” Chanyeol promised to the strange being, even if he sounded a bit unsure of their capacity to fulfil that promise. “Can you give us some sort of coordinates for him? How long does he stay in each location?” 

“ _I have found no pattern in the teleportation loop no matter how long I’ve watched!_ ” Mongryong sounded really enthusiastic about that, and Baekhyun snickered even if it was a bit weird. “ _But I have uploaded his current coordinates to you! I boosted the Kris Wu’s signal in hopes he would be rescued. And look!_ ” The tone changed to prideful. “ _Here you are!_ ”

“Got the coordinates, let’s get moving.” Lay commanded, and they followed slowly. The direction seemed to be guiding them into a cave, hidden among the trees and under a radiolarian waterfall.

“So, Mongryong,” Baekhyun began as they reached the entrance of the cave. “I’m Baekhyun, nice to meet you. What exactly are you?”

Chanyeol gasped by his side. “Baekhyun! You don’t just ask disembodied voices what they are!” 

“ _Nice to meet you too, Baekhyun! I am Mongryong! Call me Mongryong!_ ” The voice remained jolly and sunny. “ _I am the Exodus Black’s Failsafe_.”

“Ah! You’re an AI!” Baekhyun exclaimed for the benefit of the others. Then muttered out of the radio, “A malfunctioning AI.”

“ _I heard that_!” Mongryong declared happily. “ _At your service_!”

Baekhyun laughed awkwardly, smiling at nothing since no one could see him. “Sorry, Mongryong!”

“Toben, why don’t you look for what the Exodus Black is?” Chanyeol asked his Ghost, who nodded.

“Sure,” Toben answered. “Let’s see here… The Exodus Black was a Golden Age colony ship, destined for Kepler hyphen one-eighty-six. The ship lost contact with Earth and it never got to the Kepler system. I suppose it crashed here.”

“A failsafe, he said?” Sehun wondered, jumping over a puddle of radiolaria. “I suppose he got activated way back then?” 

“ _That is correct, unknown human_!” Mongryong suddenly replied. “ _I have been here ever since! Sadly, all of my crew perished in this time. I have been very lonely_!”

“My name is Sehun,” The Hunter introduced himself, unable to really hide the pity from his voice. “I’m sorry for what happened. This is my Ghost— Vivi.”

“Hi!” Vivi acknowledged.

“I’m Toben,” Toben, surprisingly sweet, added. “And this is my Guardian, Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol, who had been ducking his head to pass a small passage in the strange cave Mongryong had led them to, hit his head against the low bedrock. 

“Ow! Yes! I’m Chanyeol, hey.” He echoed Toben, the wincing clear in his voice. 

“That leaves me, I suppose. I’m Lay!” Lay greeted.

“Call me Cat.” Cat said coolly.

“ _It is very nice to meet you all_!” Mongryong stated joyfully. “ _The Kris Wu has instructed me on Guardians and their Friendly Ghosts. It is very insightful to meet so many in a short time! However, I detect that one of you is missing a Friendly Ghost_.”

Baekhyun chuckled, his voice echoing in the large cave. They had to move down constantly, but at least it was a mostly straight path. Vex were nothing if not straightforward. 

“That would be me,” He replied. “I don’t have a Friendly Ghost. I’m not a Guardian.”

“ _That is very sad to hear, Baekhyun_.” Mongryong didn’t really sound sad at all, and it made Baekhyun smile once more and assure the AI it was quite alright.

The cave gave way to open space. In the centre of it, there was a Vex portal, and levitating on it, was no other than Kris Wu— looking all blue and Vex-y, like a projection of himself. Baekhyun hated to admit how relieved he was at the sight of him.

“Kris?!” Lay yelled, and the other Hunter looked up.

“Fuck, Yixing! Is that you?!” Kris was yelling as well, but his voice seemed to be far away at the same time it reverberated through the cave. “Listen, don’t ask me how this happened— I don’t have time to explain what I don’t even have time to understand.” 

And just like that, Kris vanished. 

“No!” Baekhyun exclaimed, a bit distraught. “Do we have to walk all the way back again?”

“Yixing?” Sehun questioned, like that was the important thing. Lay shrugged. 

“That used to be my name,” He said shortly. “You’re not my friend, though. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t use it.”

“At least Guardian Kris is alive,” Chanyeol changed the subject, sighing tiredly. “Uhm, Mongryong? Do you happen to have any new coordinates for him?”

“ _Warning_!” Mongryong responded gleefully instead. “ _The Vex will vaporise you!_ ”

“Hold up, what did he say?” Baekhyun asked. “Did he say, ‘the Vex will vaporise you’?”

Indeed, Vex portals began to materialise all around the cave, at first as merely rectangular lines of light in thin air. Immediately, the whole fireteam tensed and readied their weapons. 

“Get away from open space!” Lay ordered, as he followed his own command. Baekhyun took refuge behind a rock, while Chanyeol and Sehun boldly stood in the middle of it all. The portals were opening. Goblins were coming out. Baekhyun did a double take, but didn't come out. “What are you guys doing?!” 

“Fighting,” Chanyeol replied as if it was obvious. He was already firing the Jiangshi AR1 Baekhyun had lent to him into one of the portals, blowing off the head of a couple Goblins— when one of them tried to rush to the Titan, Chanyeol punched its robotic guts out, as if he had never lost the Light.

“Wow.” Baekhyun mumbled to himself in amazement. Could Chanyeol get hotter, really? Titans were really something. He had been wasting his time on Hunters and snipers.

“Any fun advice on the Vex, Baekhyun?” Sehun asked, sounding completely unconcerned as he grabbed his bow lazily, even if he was on the move— unlike Chanyeol, who was charging directly with little concern for himself. Baekhyun shot at a Goblin’s core with the Ace before it could get to the reckless Titan.

“Yes!” He yelled, trying to follow Chanyeol with his hand cannon, as the Titan let out a war cry of proportions, showering bullets on a newly spawned Minotaur. “Get them on the stomach, not the head! What the fuck are you doing, Chanyeol?!”

It was incredible that not even a single robot had managed to pin Chanyeol down when he was just rushing into them as he shot, either punching the creature unfortunate enough to run into him, or delivering body slams that were ridiculously intense. He was insanely strong and insanely stupid— Baekhyun attempted to shoot at the Vex before Chanyeol could even reach them, and it seemed to be working well. The Minotaur’s shield didn’t even last a minute, and then Chanyeol was— oh, cotton socks, he was jumping the Minotaur and attempting to rip its head off. 

Okay. So hot _and_ scary.

“What the fuck, he’s an absolute brute!” Baekhyun screamed.

“Yeah!” Lay yelled back from his side of the cave. “He’s known for that! It's his whole thing. Picture perfect Titan.” 

The worst part was that Chanyeol had succeeded. He had effectively decapitated the Minotaur with his bare arms, and he was going down along with the large robot’s body. Unfortunately, a new Minotaur had opened a portal right behind him, and Baekhyun yelled to warn him.

He didn’t have to. An arrow of Void had struck the Minotaur, making it fall back, and then two more arrows hit the two Harpies it had brought along with it right in their eyes, exploding into pieces. Sehun was an excellent marksman. 

Gaping as he was at the sight of the two Guardians, Baekhyun didn’t realise Lay had snuck to his side until the Hunter was speaking.

“Hey,” Lay greeted casually. “Do you also feel like you’re kinda redundant in this fight?” 

Baekhyun was busy jumping and clutching his chest. 

“Was that necessary?! Fuck!” The scavenger complained, but he lowered his hand cannon. Sehun was executing the Minotaur with _arrows_ of all things— and Chanyeol was firing at Goblins and Harpies from the floor with the borrowed auto rifle from his spot on the ground like it was no big deal, just a regular Tuesday evening. “But shit. We really are. Huh.” 

“What a relief. I thought I would be on babysitting duty with you, to be absolutely honest.” Yixing admitted, casually leaning against the rock— was Baekhyun allowed to call him Yixing? He sure was calling him that in his mind. He totally considered himself Yixing’s friend.

“Chanyeol has killed at least three intergalactic gods and Sehun has the Light in a time where no one does,” Baekhyun countered, tearing his eyes from the impressive scene to stare at Yixing. “And you thought _we_ would be babysitting _them_?” 

“Chanyeol caused a war and brought the Taken to the system, and Sehun is a little bit of a brat.” Yixing retorted, unimpressed, which— fair enough. “Hey, Mongryong, are you still around? We didn’t get vaporised yet!”

“ _I’m very excited to hear that, Guardian Lay_!” The AI answered almost immediately, and he did sound excited. “ _Should I upload the Kris Wu’s new coordinates to your friendly Ghost_?”

“If you’d be so kind.” Lay replied warmly.

A big explosion grabbed their attention once more. It looked like a third Minotaur had shown up to avenge its friends— this one was definitely bigger than the first two. Sehun had thrown a smoke grenade to disable its shield, but it hadn’t totally worked. Chanyeol was firing the Jiangshi, in the process of standing up, yet he had to perform a quick roll to escape the Minotaur when it tried to kick the Titan away like a rag doll.

“That’s our cue to help.” Yixing commented nonchalantly. 

“Sure,” Baekhyun noted, already making a grab for the Two-Tailed Fox— pre-charged and loaded. “You’re gonna love this thing.”

Thinking like Kris Wu was no easy feat. How had he kept a place like Nessus under wraps at all, even with his snitch of a Ghost, was an accomplishment.

“I thought he just missed Luhan, you know? With the way he was researching the Vex all of the sudden,” Lay rambled, helping Chanyeol walk by holding one side of his body, while Sehun held the other. It turned out that slamming into metallic robots repeatedly had had its consequences, after all— mainly Chanyeol whining and complaining as Toben healed him slowly. “Not that he had found a whole Machine World to himself.” 

Toben sighed heavily. “Can we be still for a second? I can’t really aim this well if we keep moving. The terrain is really uneven!”

“Every second we spend not moving is a second in which Kris might teleport away, Toben.” Baekhyun remarked from the front of the fireteam, grumpy and upset. The cave had been too small for the Two-Tailed Fox, as it turned out. If Lay had been okay, it had been because he had been smart enough to hide. Not only had he recoiled badly, but the Solar bang broken the lens on the scavenger’s helmet, and the glass had nearly cut out his eye— the left one, as if to match Baekbeom. Vivi had healed the cuts he had inflicted on himself, the Light pulling the small shards of glass away, but the Ghost didn’t clean up blood, and it was sticky and humid on Baekhyun’s face. “Besides, no one told Chanyeol to just punch Vex like that.”

“No one told you to fire a rocket launcher in such a tight space, either,” Chanyeol countered easily, as he separated himself from Lay and Sehun gingerly. “But hey! It all worked out, didn’t it?”

It turned out that Chanyeol had been shot _multiple_ times. Either his armour had endured it, or his body on adrenaline had.

It made something twist in Baekhyun’s gut, ugly and big. He wondered if this was how his brother felt whenever Baekhyun got injured. Baekhyun knew _he_ hadn’t felt this way at least since his father had died.

Baekhyun just power walked angrily. Kris was in another cave, and they were about to reach it.

“ _The Kris Wu attempted to manipulate the Vex portal system to his benefit,_ ” Mongryong had been happy to tell them when Sehun had asked the AI how Kris had ended up teleporting across Nessus so randomly. “ _He is now trapped in a non-linear loop. In my defence, I tried to warn him— the Kris Wu is not very smart!_ ”

No Guardian was, Baekhyun grumbled internally. Maybe Suho. And the jury was still out on that one.

“Mongryong,” He decided to ask in order to keep himself and his mind occupied with something other than the very stupid Lightless Guardians in his care. “How long have you been around here? In Nessus, I mean.”

“ _Long enough to witness the Vex convert this entire planetoid, kill all living organisms, reformat molecules, and digitise brain waves for further study!_ ” Mongryong answered. “ _It’s been a fascinating process!_ ”

Baekhyun needed a hit of that happy chip Mongryong was malfunctioning on. However, as gloomy as he was, he felt like asking sad questions instead.

“Did your crew get caught up in that fascinating process?” He deadpanned, and behind him, Chanyeol gasped. 

“Baekhyun!” The Titan chastised him. “That’s rude!”

“ _It’s no matter, Guardian Chanyeol_!” Mongryong appeased the blond. “ _Only my Captain has access to those memories, and he’s super dead_!” 

“At least you have a sense of humour about it, Mongryong.” Sehun consoled the AI, who didn’t seem to need any consolation. “Baekhyun could use some right now.” 

“Fuck you, Sehun Oh!” Baekhyun finally exploded, as he nearly stumbled forward in the new cave they were surveying— it was way darker and narrower than the first one. “Where _the **fuck**_ am I supposed to get a new helmet right now?! Do I just stumble across an engram on the ground?! Do I fashion one out of Vex remains?!”

“You just need a new lens!” Sehun retorted. “Chill!”

“Don’t tell me to chill, you little—” 

“Guys!” Chanyeol’s voice boomed in the close quarters they were in, and it seemed like Leader Chanyeol had finally decided to make an appearance. “Guys, deck it out another time. Let’s power through this. Kris must be close.” 

Baekhyun gritted his teeth and muttered a few more unkind things about Sehun under his breath. The Hunter had the nerve to snicker.

“ _Indeed, Guardian Chanyeol! Harmony among a crew is very important for survival!_ ” Mongryong confirmed. “ _The Kris Wu is just beyond that Vex gate_!”

The Vex gate was, like all Vex gates, was a large round iron structure, lit up with a milky glow. The portal was active, and Baekhyun swallowed warily. 

“Are you sure that’s safe, Mongryong?” He wondered hesitantly. “We won’t get stuck like Kris did, right?”

“ _Of course not_!” The AI responded. “ _My judgement module is much more reliable than the Kris Wu’s own_.” 

Baekhyun let out a humourless ‘ha ha’. However, he was feeling antsy, and a bit rash, and angry, after everything they had gone through. They could grasp Kris just by the tips of their fingers— he could feel it. He didn’t even want to look at the Guardians right now. So, without a glance back, and Mongryong’s assurance that it was secure, he stepped through the gate.

It was only a second between locations. The second was unpleasant, Baekhyun’s body feeling like it was pulled apart and built again somewhere else. It made him shiver as he crossed, rolling his sore shoulders. He looked up at an offending bright source of light that bothered him and froze at what he saw. 

Lay was the next one through. “Hey, Baekhyun, are you okay? I know you’re hot-headed, but I’ve never seen you be like— _w_ _hoa_.” 

Whoa was absolutely right.

Sehun and Chanyeol came together, Chanyeol gripping on Sehun’s nape as if pushing him forward. They had taken their sweet time on the other side –ten seconds at most— and they weren’t even looking up.

“Chanyeol wants me to apologise to you, Baekhyun.” The young Hunter was reciting like a child forced to say he was sorry, even if there was a small tinge of regret in his voice. “It should be forbidden to tell other people to ‘chill’. It always makes things worse— _are we in Nessus’s core_?” 

“Fuck.” Chanyeol muttered. 

The cavern the gate had taken them to was effectively Nessus’s core. The bright light, flashing like a miniature sun, was magnificent and terrifying— if it didn’t burn nor have a strong gravitational pull it was only because of the Vex’s doing, as it was clearly terraformed— machinoformed, really. However, everything around them was abyss, large rocks gravitating around the core for all path towards a clearly Vex cube structure— where Kris had to be. 

Without waiting for anyone to decide, Baekhyun began jumping and made it to the closest rock.

“Wait for us, Baekhyun!” Chanyeol called, but he sounded kind of far away. Perhaps Baekhyun was too focused on his goal— getting to Kris once and for all. Maybe punching the lights out of him. 

He surprised himself with how calm he was as he jumped. Only half a day ago, after all, he had been scared of doing the same exercise in Titan. When his vision started getting blurry in the edges, and saw black spots floating around, and his heartbeat was all he could hear, he thought, _oh_.

Of course. The infection.

It was strange and unexpected. Vivi had healed him only half an hour ago, after all, unknowingly injecting him with the Light that would supposedly help him deal with the Darkness. Now, it seemed –and judging by Baekhyun’s foul mood— the Light had only made it worse. 

Was he getting worse?

He blacked out for a moment.

When he came back, Baekhyun found himself in front of another blue projection of Kris, who was shouting at him.

“—Baekhyun! For the love of the Traveller!” The Hunter was yelling in frustration. “I don’t have all the time in the world! Is there any lag? Can there be lag wherever I am?!”

Baekhyun paled, and he looked back. The core burnt his bare eye, and he shielded it with his hand. Despite that, he could see the Guardians quite a way behind him, jumping from rock to rock slowly. 

The Darkness moved differently within every life form it touched— Baekhyun knew as much. However, it always had one goal, and that was the destruction of the life form until it was reduced to its minimal expression. 

If he had been just— possessed just now, and the Darkness had led him safe and sound towards Kris— what did that mean?

He attempted to ignore the icy tendrils of Darkness that he felt spreading through his chest with a vice-like grip, as if it was trying to keep him from breathing. Baekhyun turned to Kris, choking out his name, “Kris?”

Kris, pixelated and see-through, perked up. He gave Baekhyun a smile that was a whole lot of projected gums and teeth. 

“Baekhyun! You _can_ hear me!” The man said, satisfied. However, it only lasted a moment— he was frowning then as he continued. “Look, I don’t know how long this portal is going to stick. I know it looks like I don’t know what I’m doing, but I definitely do.”

The way he was enunciating everything was deliberate, as if afraid Baekhyun wouldn’t understand him. Baekhyun scowled. 

“Oh, you do?” The scavenger asked sarcastically. “That’s rich, Kris Wu. How did you get stuck there, huh?”

“Vex technology is very counterintuitive!” Kris defended himself, just as Sehun landed right next to Baekhyun, leaning a hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder, as if out of breath. 

“ _When_ did you get so fast?” The young boy wondered genuinely. “You weren’t this fast yesterday.” 

“Hey, hey!” Kris exclaimed. “Baekhyun, focus on me!”

“Don’t tell me what to do, Wu!” Baekhyun retorted defiantly. “Actually, no— tell me exactly what to do to get you out of there. And make it snappy!”

“Kill the power source at its origin!” Kris declared, pointing to somewhere else vaguely. Probably what he thought was the direction of the power source wherever he was. “That should break the loop and get me out of the portal system! Did you get that?” 

Lay gracefully landed on the other side of Sehun, while Chanyeol followed, heavily so. Chanyeol just kneeled and laid like that, panting, while Yixing sighed with exhaustion.

“Hey, Kris,” The spy greeted, winded. “How did you get there?” 

Kris waved him off, clearly growing impatient. 

“It doesn’t matter, Yixing! What matters is that you got how to get me out of here! Baekhyun, did you get it? Say you’ve got it.” When Baekhyun didn’t immediately respond, he added urgently, “Say something!”

“I got it!” Baekhyun yelled. “Fuck, Kris. Now, what did you even do to end up—”

“—For fuck’s sake,” Kris was crying out. “Did you not hear what I just said?!”

And then, he vanished once more.

“He seems nice.” Sehun commented. 

“As nice as a paper cut.” Baekhyun joked, but it fell flat. “So, if my gut’s right, Vex should start popping up right about now—” 

“ _—Warning_!” Mongryong interrupted cheerily. 

Only one big portal was opening in front of them, and Baekhyun smirked to himself.

“Ah, how I hate to be always right.”

“It must be such a burden,” Lay deadpanned, cocking his gun. “Park, Oh, you better fucking do as I say this time and not body slam your way out of this one.”

Chanyeol and Sehun were clearly about to protest, but the portal gave way to a fucking Hydra, and they probably knew better than to argue— they both took cover, as Lay and Baekhyun also ran, because that thing was firing towards them the second it was within the same realm. 

Hydras were as close to a Vex dragon the alien robots would get, Baekhyun supposed. They were long, all metal snakes which grew thicker at the top, with a big, red, and deadly eye and rotating shields. Usually, they were the leaders in the Collective— the Minds of the Vex. 

This one was no exception.

“Who’re we dealing with, Vivi?” Sehun asked his Ghost, as he fired arrows of Void towards it. However, its shields were immune to every single hit. The Hunter mumbled in annoyance as Vivi performed a scan. 

“Hapax, The Convergent Mind!” Vivi announced, and Baekhyun heard him both in front of him and through his comm. “An Ultra Hydra!”

“ _Hey, Baekhyunnie, we have space here_!” Chanyeol teased the scavenger, too far away from him, his voice crackling in the radio. “ _We could use that rocket launcher right about now_!” 

“ _If I may_ ,” Yixing interjected, sounding way too peaceful for the situation they were in, “ _Would you cover for me, guys? I want to give Hapax here something to remember me by_.” 

Baekhyun knew that deceiving tone of innocence. Sehun looked at him questioningly, and he merely shrugged, his visible eye glinting at the black-haired boy with a promise. 

“I suggest we provide support to Guardian Lay, children.” Baekhyun said.

“ _It’s your funeral, Lay_ ,” Chanyeol answered. “ _Just make sure it isn’t actually your funeral_.”

A silent agreement was made at that moment, and Baekhyun and Sehun nodded at each other. From each side of the small cube rock they were hiding behind, they came out of hiding, and began firing at Hapax. Sehun had exchanged his bow for a hand cannon he fired expertly, while Baekhyun stuck to his trusty Ace. 

It wasn’t much fire against the gigantic robot, even combined with the Jiangshi AR1 of Chanyeol from somewhere in the cave, but it kept Hapax distracted. It fired at each of them with what Baekhyun could only describe as death blasts, and even from far away, they stung Baekhyun’s exposed skin. 

And then Lay was dropping on Hapax with a sword— how had he even managed to get up there? No matter. The Hydra couldn’t reach the Hunter from that angle, even if it tried to shake him off, letting out loud Vex sounds. 

Yixing kept his balance, however, and with both hands, he drove the sword –a thin, razor-sharp blade Baekhyun knew the Guardian called Quickfang— into the head of the Hydra, which screamed a horrible robotic cry of pain. 

The Hunter wasn’t done. He rapidly pulled the Quickfang out, and stabbed Hapax on his eye with it, and then pulled upwards, in a movement that must’ve taken only a couple of seconds. Hapax screamed more, as Yixing carved out a path from the creature’s eye to the initial wound he had made. Baekhyun thought he could almost spot a smirk through Yixing's helmet lens. His smile was full of blades.

The Hydra was shaking now, the crevices in its body beginning to light up as its shields stopped working— its death was impending. So was Lay’s, though, if he didn’t get away fast. 

“Lay, jump, come on!” Baekhyun yelled. And Yixing did, leaping forward like some sort of gymnast, just in time. Hapax exploded spectacularly, and Baekhyun fell over with the recoil from it. 

Guardians were really cool, even without their Light.

Once outside of the core’s cave and through the Vex gate once more, Baekhyun dropped down on the ground, feeling drained. 

“At this rate,” He muttered, “We’ll have covered the whole of this centaur looking for this bastard.”

“We don’t have to look for him, at least,” Chanyeol comforted him. “What did you say? Find the power source and kill it? Easy peasy.” 

Baekhyun closed his eyes, exhaling deeply.

“Easy peasy.” He repeated in a mockery of Chanyeol’s deep voice. Before the Titan could respond, the scavenger called out. “Mongryong, are you still there?”

“ _Of course, Baekhyun_!” The AI answered joyfully. “ _I cannot escape this hellish existence!_ ”

“Oh em gee, same.” He chirped. This Mongryong was so relatable.

“Quit it and get up,” Chanyeol said fondly. “Mongryong, can you tell us where this power source Kris was talking about?” 

“ _Oh yes_!” Mongryong replied once more. “ _By locating the original Vex Teleporter the Kris Wu used, you can shut down the loop and free him_.” 

It sounded awfully like what Kris had said. Baekhyun half-sat up, leaning his body on his elbows.

“By any chance, Mongryong,” He ventured. “Did you already know it and send us to Kris just to fuck with us?” 

Chanyeol gasped at him. “Baekhyun, you’re accusing our friend of sending us in a wild goose chase. That’s not nice!”

“ _It is exactly what I did, Guardian Chanyeol, Baekhyun_ ,” The AI confirmed, still cheery and unbothered. “ _You are the only entertainment I’ve had since the Kris Wu arrived, and he’s not very fun_!” 

Sehun laughed, as if he couldn’t believe what he just heard. Baekhyun couldn’t help but to join, feeling helpless.

Fortunately, Mongryong wasn’t completely heartless or a tease. He had the coordinates for the Vex teleporter as well, and he was all too kind to send them to the fireteam. After a small respite, they gathered themselves, and got to walking away.

This was their third cave, and Baekhyun was growing tired of them. This one had large pools of glowing white liquid, which Sehun learnt the hard way would shock him if he touched it. 

“Careful!” Yixing warned the other Guardian belatedly. “That’s radiolaria. You know, mind fluid?”

“Mind fluid?” Sehun repeated, peeved and miffed, and trying to shake off the remnants of it from his boot. “What does that even mean?” 

“It’s the stuff that powers the Vex, actually,” Baekhyun explained. “They’re micro-organisms.”

“ _Close physical contact with radiolaria can produce dangerous mind-altering effects_!” Mongryong relayed. They had long stopped trying to keep the AI from listening in on them. Baekhyun quite liked him, anyway. 

“Micro-organisms?” Sehun echoed. “I thought Vex were robots.” 

“They’re not all robot, or at least, that’s what we’ve gathered with time,” Lay told the other Hunter. “It seems these micro-organisms are just the beginning. The robots you know and that we fight are merely cocoons— or that’s what Jongok used to tell us. Since radiolaria is very much well and alive, it does what it wants with you, and it usually wants to hurt you.”

“ _Extended exposure to radiolarian fluid results into conversion into Vex_!” Mongryong added helpfully. “ _It is what happened to many of my crew_!”

Baekhyun couldn’t look at Sehun’s face, but he surely was horrified, and his stance said it all. It made Baekhyun break into laughter. 

“He’s right,” He remarked, a bit mischievous. “My grandad got totally converted into a Vex. My grandma managed to escape, but—” He lifted his arm as if to show off his muscles, even if he only tapped his bicep with the barrel of the Ace, to reminiscence on the posture his grandmother often had. “—She lost her arm. I mean, she _had_ her arm, but it was a robot arm. It was all twitchy and weird.”

Chanyeol, who had been climbing over a rectangular rock, tripped and looked back in shock. 

“What?” He intoned. “Baekhyun, that’s _awful_. I’m so sorry.” 

Baekhyun suddenly felt bad for Chanyeol, and he shrugged, uncomfortable. 

“I remember Jeonghie’s arm,” Yixing interrupted, making a fist, and imitating its movement— as if attempting to escape the human body it was attached to. The sight of such an uncanny resemblance made Baekhyun smile, even if it was a grim image. “It was pretty awesome. Even if it— you know. Took over her mind and everything.”

“It definitely looked cool.” Baekhyun conceded with a chuckle. 

Sehun and Chanyeol were strangely quiet the rest of the way. Eventually, they entered a large area, which had an exit on the opposite side of where they were standing, and an energy barrier restricting their passage. Baekhyun snorted.

“Lay, I bet your Quickfang that the teleporter is right behind that barrier.” Baekhyun proposed. The Hunter didn’t even look at him, as he examined the environment for a way to bypass the block. 

“I don’t gamble with the likes of you, Skulking Fox,” The blond replied off-handily. “Especially when it’s obvious you’d win. Now, somebody needs to go trigger the Vex to appear. Sehun?”

Sehun nodded. The Guardian apparently didn’t need to be told what to do, because he jumped over the radiolaria with an impulse of Light, into a central platform in the middle of the cavern. As if by art of magic –really, only proximity— Vex portals began spawning all around Sehun. Unfortunately, what came out of them were Fanatics— Goblins without heads, shining eerily and walking very slowly towards Sehun from all directions, who seemed confused. 

“ _Warning! The Vex will attempt another vaporisation_!” Mongryong announced happily.

“ _What are these and why aren’t they shooting_?” Sehun asked through their comms. Baekhyun just pointed his hand cannon at one of them. 

“Sorry, Sehun!” He called and shot. The Fanatic exploded not only with the Solar impact, but with the radiolarian destruction these Vex brought, and triggered a chain reaction in which Sehun was inevitably caught. Baekhyun looked away from his battered body as Chanyeol squawked.

“Did you just kill Sehun?!” The Titan questioned. “Scratch that— you killed Sehun!”

Terrible fireteam etiquette, Baekhyun knew. But hey— “At least Sehun can come back!”

“ _That he can._ ” Vivi interjected, already in the process of reviving Sehun, even if he did sound upset at Baekhyun. “ _But you could’ve warned us, you know_?” 

“It was for the greater good,” Baekhyun countered, even if he did feel bad. Not as bad as he felt he should, and that worried him, though. “The barrier is down, look!” 

Sehun was groaning, as he came back to life. He stayed down, however, even as the rest of them made their way to him, and Baekhyun offered him a hand. He duly noted that Sehun’s lens was also broken now, but his whole face was visible, and he looked a bit dazed as he stared at Baekhyun. 

“Hey, we match now!” The scavenger grinned at Sehun as he took his hand, even if only his upturned eye was evidence of this. “I’m sorry again. They would’ve exploded anyway if you they got any nearer to you.”

At first, Sehun’s hand was limp in Baekhyun’s, but then the grip tightened and Sehun pulled himself up.

“Fuck you,” Sehun answered, though it had no heat to it. “I’m trying to survive around here, follow your example, and you go and use me as a human grenade. Not very nice.”

Baekhyun guffawed in surprise. “Out of all examples out there, did you have to use me?” 

Sehun squeezed Baekhyun’s hand, which he hadn’t let go of yet, a small ghost of a smile on his handsome face. “You’re the only one worth following, so— yeah. Definitely.” 

Chanyeol cleared his throat pointedly, and Baekhyun and Sehun both dropped their hands as if caught doing something bad. “We should get a move on. Let’s get this over with.”

They made their way past the inactive barrier, and indeed, in the middle of the room, there was a Vex gate— also inactive. In the centre of it, there was a round object, like a shield, and Baekhyun guessed that was the teleporter Kris had been tinkering with. 

“ _You know_ ,” Mongryong suddenly said into their radios. “ _I thought your wholesale destruction of the Vex would make me miss my captain and crew less_.” 

Baekhyun paused, as if the AI would continue. When there was only silence, as Lay approached the teleporter, he made a hand gesture. “Did it?”

“ _It did not_!”

“Aw, bummer.” 

“Is this the teleporter, Mongryong?” Lay asked, staring at the device cautiously— he didn’t want to end up caught in the loop, like Kris had.

“ _Yes_!” The AI affirmed. “ _Remove it and the loop will be broken_.”

Yixing did just that, very carefully. The teleporter dislodged easily, and there was a moment of tension, and then, a deep laughter was making its way into Baekhyun’s ears through the radio.

“ _You guys got me out_!” Kris was saying, sounding extremely relieved. “ _Ha! Finally! I’m out! And I’m—_ ” A pause. “ _Where am I_?”

“ _The Kris Wu_ ,” Mongryong was speaking then, as energetic as ever, “ _You are near the remains of my reactor core. Welcome to the Exodus Black, where all your dreams come true_! _Beware of the Fallen_.” 

“ _Fallen?_ ” Kris repeated, and there was cursing on his end. “ _Shit, Fallen— how did Fallen get here_?!” 

“ _You brought them here, the Kris Wu._ ” Mongryong didn’t lose his enthusiasm, and Baekhyun had to snicker along with Lay, Chanyeol, and Sehun.

“ _Guys_ ,” Kris spoke again, sounding more serious. “ _The Fallen’s gotten the Vex around here into a murderous rampage. I’ll hunker down in the Exodus Black. We should meet here_.”

“ _Here_?” Mongryong asked, at last sounding anything different from happy. He sounded terribly concerned. “ _But my hull is in one hundred and eight pieces! Decks one through twenty are buried. And my coolant system— I am a mess_.” 

“ _I can take a mess._ ” Kris assured the AI.

“We’ll meet with you there, Kris.” Yixing replied at last. “Mongryong, send us the coordinates for you now, please?” 

At least they were done with caves, Baekhyun figured. The fresh air of Nessus would do him good— at least, this Machine World was real pretty.

Only then Baekhyun realised that his symptoms had subsided, and he hadn’t even realised when they had stopped. He felt immensely lighter by now, and began mulling over different theories for this as they trekked back into the surface— was it fighting? Was it focusing on the reality around him? Talking? Also, Sehun mentioned he was very fast. Was the Darkness giving him superpowers other than—?

The sunlight was unexpected after so much time in caves, and he closed his eyes in reflex to it.

“Okay,” Chanyeol was saying, reviewing a map that Toben was projecting for him on the ground. “We’re not that far from the Exodus Black, actually. It has to be like five minutes or something.” 

The tall Titan looked up and pointed to somewhere. Baekhyun turned to see the enormous remains of what had to have been an equally massive craft covering the entirety of the valley. He snorted. 

“Oh, yeah, I think that’s it.” He said in amusement.

“ _Intruder alert_!” Mongryong alerted.

“ _It’s me_!” Kris answered with urgency. “ _Uh, you know— The Kris Wu_? _Let me in, Mongryong, Fallen are shooting at me_!”

“ _The Kris Wu has attracted a large number of Fallen to my position._ ” Mongryong reproached, even if he didn’t sound that reproachful. It seemed to be an issue Mongryong had. “ _I advise you do not get shot, the Kris Wu._ ”

“We better hurry.” Chanyeol declared. They began moving once more, this time almost running as fast as they could, and the Exodus Black wasn’t far at all, but indeed, the Fallen and the Vex were engaged in a battle right by the only way into it— a large, Fallen Walker and a Vex Minotaur even bigger than the one they had faced in the first cave. 

Without a word, they all took cover and hid from the aliens behind even larger pieces of debris of what had to be the Exodus Black. 

“Vivi?” Sehun prompted. The Ghost was used to the drill, by now, and spoke up to inform them of the Minotaur’s identity:

“Acanthos,” Vivi said. “A Gate Lord.”

Sehun’s exposed face scrunched up. “What’s a Gate Lord?”

“They're bad news,” Chanyeol told him grimly. “They keep the Vex realms out of time.” 

“Out of time? What does that even mean?” 

“Vex don’t really obey the universe’s laws of temporality,” Yixing explained. “They’re outside of them. Gate Lords make sure of that.” 

“ _There’s a Gate Lord outside_?!” Kris all but yelled into their ears, making Baekhyun wince. “ _And the Fallen are closing in on us, shit_!”

“ _Activating defensive shield_ ,” Mongryong announced. “ _The Kris Wu must stand back_.”

“I’ve taken Gate Lords down before, and I’ll do it again,” Chanyeol claimed, determined. “Let’s smash this fucker down.”

As he spoke, the Fallen Walker was exploding into pieces, effectively smashed by Acanthos. It didn’t matter to Chanyeol, it seemed, who was pulling harshly on Baekhyun’s Two-Tailed Fox right off Baekhyun’s back and sprinting towards the creature.

“Ouch, hey! Chanyeol! Chanyeol, you can’t just smash it!” Baekhyun screamed as the Titan ran and loading at the same time. “That motherfucker—”

Without really thinking about it, worried sick, and pretty damn mad Chanyeol had taken off with what was becoming quite quickly his favourite power weapon just like that, Baekhyun ran after him. Now, he was certainly happy he was overloaded. His Izanagi sniper was just as quickly detached from his back, and he was pointing right at Acanthos’s core. Shooting at it would surely distract the Gate Lord from Chanyeol and redirect his attention to him, but it was a risk he was willing to take.

His bare eye looked through the sight of the sniper, finding the core easily, if a little shakily. Baekhyun could see the Minotaur about to stomp, surely on Chanyeol. Baekhyun knelt in motion, almost skidding on the ground, and shot. And then shot again, and again, and again, until the magazine ran out.

Izanagi’s Burden, much like all weapons that Ada-1 had to offer, was nearly alive. It always rewarded Baekhyun’s precise fire with an easy reload, and the second round of fire was always just a little stronger, as if the rifle itself was pleased with him. Baekhyun was always precise and quick.

Unfortunately, the sniper sight didn’t really allow for him to see what was happening in the bigger picture, and he pulled away quickly to see that indeed, he had managed to somewhat damage Acanthos’s core, and get its attention in the process— however, the Minotaur looked more angry than wounded, and was rushing towards Baekhyun now. Baekhyun got up as fast as he could and began running from it.

“Shitshitshitshit—” He muttered, and then, a Void arrow whistled as it passed the scavenger. Sehun. Baekhyun looked back at Acanthos, to see a large Void anchor form right in its chest, tethering him and weakening him.

It was great, because Chanyeol had seemingly finally figured out the Two-Tailed Fox. Void and Solar blasts came onto the Gate Lord, and he screamed a terrifying metallic sound. It wasn’t done yet, however. 

Then Chanyeol was rolling on the ground right next to Baekhyun. 

“You ran out of bullets on this thing.” The Titan reported nonchalantly.

“ _I_ ran out of bullets?” Baekhyun repeated. “Chanyeol, you literally ripped it from my back—”

“—Whatever, really, use that sniper again,” The blond commanded. “Acanthos is about to—”

As it turned out, Baekhyun didn’t have to use Izanagi’s Burden again. There was an incredibly loud crash, an earth-shattering roar that Baekhyun was terrified to say he recognised, and the comms were all silent for a mere moment before Lay and Sehun and Chanyeol and Vivi and Cat and Toben were all practically shrieking, all at the same time.

Baekhyun was rooted to the spot, even as Chanyeol pulled on his arm. Because he could not believe his eyes.

The Abyssal Champion stood before them, deliberately pulling its large axe from Acanthos’s broken form. It was even bigger than the Gate Lord. Bigger than Baekhyun remembered it being in Las Vegas. 

What was more important, however, it was here _in Nessus with them_ , rather than Las Vegas.

“H-How?” He whispered under his breath. “How did you get here?”

As if sensing Baekhyun speaking to it, the Taken Darkblade stared right at the scavenger, the bright eerie blue of the stars it came from humming ominously.

Then Chanyeol was pulling again, this time much more forcefully, and it pulled Baekhyun back into reality as well. 

“We need to get rid of this thing right now!” The Titan was yelling. Was he for real? Baekhyun grabbed onto Chanyeol’s arm instead and began pulling to the direction of the Exodus Black.

“No, we need to get to Mongryong and Kris now!” He shouted. “This is the Darkblade D.O and Chen fought in Las Vegas! It wouldn’t be killed with their Lights, it’s not gonna die with some snipers and swords!”

“ _Hold up, Baekhyun_!” Yixing exclaimed, stunned. “ _Are you serious_?!”

“ _My scans do return an Abyssal Champion, Lay_ ,” Cat asserted. “ _We need to move_!” 

“ _My Super’s not recharged_ _yet,_ ” Sehun warned them, alarmed. “ _I can’t distract it_!” 

The Abyssal Champion was on the move as well. It was following Baekhyun’s and Chanyeol’s sprinting forms, leisurely, dragging its axe on the ground as if it would eventually catch up with them. Baekhyun realised, his stomach dropping, that it certainly would.

“Don’t bother!” He broadcasted. “Exodus Black, _now_!” 

Kris, who had apparently been listening in without comment, spoke up gravely: “ _If you come here, you’ll be walking right into a Fallen crew. They’re screaming about how they’re gonna rip off my face_.” 

Baekhyun practically growled into his comm. “Then fucking do something about it, Wu, before I rip it off for them!”

Properly chastised, Kris mumbled, “ _Alright, damn. Mongryong_ —” There was a long-suffering sigh, as if he was the one in the biggest amount of danger right now and fuck Baekhyun _would_ rip off his face off, “— _let those shields down, baby_.” 

“ _Do not call me baby, the Kris Wu, my name is Mongryong! Call me Mongryong! At your service_!” The AI responded.

Yixing and Sehun had reached Baekhyun and Chanyeol by now, thankfully. However, the Abyssal Champion was closer and closer, and Baekhyun was sure it would catch them and smash them to smithereens like it had done to Acanthos, when they crossed into the Exodus Black crash site through what was an enormous engine.

“ _Warning! Intruder alert!_ ”

“It’s us!” Chanyeol practically howled with frustration, voice broken and raspy with all the racing they were doing. 

The crash site was a sight to behold, and surely Baekhyun would have appreciated it any other time— it was as if the Exodus Black was an arena of proportions, with a lake of actual turquoise water in the middle of it, pretty red trees mixed in with the debris of the colony ship. It wasn’t long before they ran into Fallen on the way to the large remaining cabin where Mongryong and Kris had to be, but the Guardians and Baekhyun shot intermittently at them, much preferring from the creatures to see the Taken Darkblade coming after them and either get absolutely destroyed by it or run right into Kris.

Kris, who was finally flesh and bone, and shooting expertly at whatever Fallen came at him and attempted to enter Mongryong’s refuge. It made Baekhyun slow down and let go of Chanyeol’s arm, as he watched Kris from afar. 

He wasn’t exactly sure what happened then, or in what order. 

Sehun, Yixing, and Chanyeol passed him as they ran. Even a Dreg passed Baekhyun, only to be thrown back by Chanyeol and passing Baekhyun again in the other direction. 

Baekhyun began to slow down, even as he was aware of the quaking of the earth beneath his feet due to the Champion, who had no rush. By the time Baekhyun had completely stopped, he was at the stairs that lead into the Exodus Black, staring blankly at the Guardians as they hid inside without bothering to check.

Kris, of course, was definitely watching. His eyes were wide as he shouted at Baekhyun, but Baekhyun couldn’t really hear him. Baekhyun wasn’t sure what happened then, but Mongryong must’ve activated his shields back, because suddenly between Kris and he there was a barrier. 

The Abyssal Champion had stopped right behind Baekhyun, rumbling so loudly Baekhyun felt the sound vibrate throughout his whole body, like thunder in a storm, like Cabal warships, like the Spider’s cackling, like Chanyeol’s voice— 

Baekhyun turned. 

The Darkblade was staring down at him, unmoving. Baekhyun felt paralysed, ears ringing, but shockingly unafraid. Looking into the slit that had to be the Champion’s only eye was like looking into another side of the universe— a place he would never see. Or perhaps he would, one day. More impossible things had happened already.

The Abyssal Champion did not raise its axe. It did not move its feet. It did nothing to attack Baekhyun, but rather, it watched him curiously, before the giant swirled into a void of stars and neurites.

And it was over.

Baekhyun nearly collapsed on the steps, and the shields were down, and Baekhyun could hear everything once more. The first thing he heard was Mongryong’s voice, pleasantly enough.

“ _He saved us_!” Mongryong exclaimed, happily. “ _Baekhyun deserves a prize! I am updating my crew log_.”

Chanyeol was right by Baekhyun in a second.

“I can’t believe I left you behind like that,” The Titan was mumbling guiltily, checking Baekhyun over, removing his broken helmet somehow both delicately and carelessly at the same time, “I should have been watching where you were going, what were you thinking—”

“ _New captain registered._ ” Mongryong concluded with an enthusiastic finality. “ _Welcome aboard, Captain_!”

Thinking like Kris Wu was no easy feat.

In a way, Baekhyun had hoped that the first thing Kris would do when they were finally in the same room together would be hug him— even if Baekhyun complained about it. Instead, all he got was the scolding of a lifetime.

“What the _fuck_ are you doing here, Baekhyun Byun?” Had been the first words they had officially spoken face-to-face since the invasion, the Hunter’s voice furious yet quiet at the same time. “And what were you thinking, pulling a stunt like that with that Taken?”

Baekhyun had never been one to just sit down and take it, of course.

“What do you think I’m doing here, Kris? It’s the same as Lay, and Chanyeol, and Sehun,” He answered defiantly. “We’re here to rescue you from yourself. Could you show a little more gratefulness?”

Kris snarled. “How many times do I have to tell you this? You are _not_ a Guardian. You haven’t got permission to run around, meddling in Guardian business, even if you have some little information clearance.” 

The not-a-Guardian card was one Kris often used, ever since Baekhyun had been fourteen. It always managed to hurt Baekhyun, even if Baekhyun repeated it to himself constantly. It had extra weight, whenever it came from an actual Guardian. Whenever it came from Kris. He stuck up his nose haughtily.

“I have permission this time, from the Vanguard Titan.” He countered. Kris bristled.

“Well, I’m the Vanguard Hunter, and I’m revoking this permission!” 

“Some Vanguard Hunter you are, running away at the first sight of trouble—” 

“—I was clearly doing something important—”

“—Oh boy!” Mongryong interrupted joyfully. “This is very awkward, Captain!”

Mongryong, as it turned out, was a large supercomputer with a whole room to itself, bolted into a wall. Its mainframe was a little bit damaged, both by the centuries-old crash and the wear and tear of time, but otherwise, the AI was quite alright.

Kris had learnt of its presence when Nessus had entered the Sun’s orbit earlier in the year and kept it to himself. The Hunter had attempted to gain the AI’s sympathy and perhaps its friendship, but it was clear that despite its cheerful demeanour, Mongryong detested Kris and mocked him often. Maybe that was why he has so hastily named Baekhyun his new Captain— they had that in common, rather than it being another one of his apparently numerous glitches. 

Baekhyun swallowed and looked around. Indeed, everyone who wasn’t Kris and he were looking pretty damn uncomfortable, and he scoffed, turning away from Kris. 

“I’m sorry, Mongryong,” He said. “But I’m definitely not sorry, Kris.” 

Lay decided to step in then. 

“Kris, distinctions between Guardians and non-Guardian warriors aren’t very useful right now,” The other senior Hunter tactfully observed. “We have lost the Light. Baekhyun and Baekbeom were one of the first ones to help refugees, and he assembled quite the fireteam in the EDZ. Not to mention, he’s been there the two times this Abyssal Champion has showed up in the system.”

“I know,” Kris admitted grumpily. “I read his logs.”

“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol began then, sounding as if he was containing himself. “I don’t know you much, but Baekhyun has been nothing short of helpful to us. He’s probably the most capable of us, and he has proved that time and time again.”

“I got my Light back thanks to Baekhyun’s help.” Sehun chimed in. Kris let out a choked breath, but Baekhyun still refused to look at any of them, focusing instead on staring at Mongryong.

“You have your Light back?” The Hunter repeated. There was a pause. “Who even _are_ you?”

Sehun huffed, and probably rolled his eyes. Baekhyun rolled his, that was for sure.

“My name’s Sehun Oh,” He too paused for a moment, sighed, and then added as proudly as he could: “And I’m the Traveller’s Chosen.”

“The Traveller’s Chosen.” Kris parroted slowly. “What the fuck have I been missing because of Luhan?”

That got Baekhyun’s attention. He turned his whole body towards Kris again, making sure he was scowling. “What do you mean because of Luhan?”

He had never met Luhan personally— Baekhyun only had the stories, the myths, and the rumours to go by, but it had been centuries since Guardian Luhan had been allowed into the Last City.

He had been one of the first Vanguard Warlocks, and then Vanguard Commanders, in the history of Humanity. He had precognition abilities that were unrivalled by all and had apparently foreseen the coming of Oryx before Humanity even knew who Oryx was. He had been best friends and fireteam, and lovers, they whispered, with Guardian Xiumin.

It had also been Guardian Xiumin himself who had exiled Luhan to never return under the orders of the Consensus and the Speaker themselves. The stories said that the Warlock had become mad by studying the nature of Darkness, particularly through the Vex, to the point of obsession. No one was allowed to contact him, even if his blasphemous theories against the Light and its purpose had gained enough traction to garner him a cult that remained until Baekhyun’s time. The Cult of Luhan. 

Baekhyun knew, logically, that Kris and Lay had once known Luhan. He had never thought the legend was so close, however.

Kris glared at Baekhyun. “What makes you think I’m telling you?”

“If you’re not telling him, I will,” RouRou spoke at last, coming out of hiding, and sounding just as mad as his Guardian, albeit for completely different reasons. “I’m absolutely done with you, Kris. Do you hear me? Done. This is Baekhyun we’re talking about!”

Baekhyun smirked smugly at Kris, who looked vaguely guilty. Count on RouRou to be a snitch, always.

The Ghost turned to Baekhyun, then.

“I’m so sorry for how he’s treating you, Baekhyunnie,” RouRou apologised sincerely. “It’s because he cares but he has no idea how to show it, okay? Ever since you—” 

“—Rou, if you’re gonna rat me out for talking to Luhan, you better keep it about Luhan.” Kris warned his Ghost. RouRou nodded vigorously.

“Okay, okay! So, a few months ago, we get this encrypted message from Luhan, from Nessus,” The little light related to them. “We thought he was either dead or absorbed by the Vex Collective, and he was asking us for discretion. Curiosity got Kris and Rou, right? We just had to know what he had been up to this whole time. He always refused, every time Xiumin had tried to bring him back to the City.”

RouRou looked over at Sehun, taking in his appearance, it seemed. 

“We come here,” He continued. “We see Luhan— he hasn’t aged a day. We ask him where he’s been, and he tells us he’s been in Mercury, travelling through space and time like, non-stop. He shows us these cubes he has, which apparently allow him to open up a portal to literally any place and time he wants, in any timeline he was, in the whole multiverse—” 

“—RouRou.” Kris called again, exasperated. 

“Right!” RouRou replied. “Sorry for getting side-tracked. Luhan tells us the weirdest thing— he tells us he left Mercury because ‘the planet is going insane’ and it’s best to stay away for now from it.” 

Baekhyun covers his surprise with a cough.

“Anyway, Luhan tells us he called us here because ‘our salvation needs us to be here’. Even stranger, right? He was clearly just as mad as when he left the City,” RouRou remarked. “We decided it was the best if we hung around, kept an eye on Luhan, made sure he didn’t do anything bad for the City’s interests and not alert anyone to his presence. Just to be safe.”

“I knew that somehow it had something to do with Luhan that you were writing stuff about the Vex all of the sudden!” Yixing exclaimed, clearly pleased with himself. Kris took a moment, but then he nodded, as if a little ashamed.

“I’ll admit, it wasn’t so terrible to spend time with him,” The Hunter relayed. “Even if his head is clearly not screwed on right. I guess we lasted here for about a month, before we decided Luhan wasn’t going to really do anything other than spew total nonsense and watch the Vex, and he told us it was best if we went to Luna soon, anyway— that we were needed there.”

Kris looked over at Baekhyun then, his expression softer than before. Baekhyun stared back for a moment, before turning his eyes once more to Mongryong's bright orange self. He knew this part of the story, after all.

If Lay perceived the tension among them –or rather, the difference between this tension and the rest of the tension there had been— he didn’t comment on it. Instead, he focused on Kris’s story, humming.

“So, what, a couple months ago?” Yixing wondered. “Right on time to help Baekhyun out in Cocytus.”

“Cocytus?” Sehun asked. “What’s Cocytus?”

“It’s a space station near the asteroid belt,” Chanyeol filled in for either elder Hunter, sounding surprised. Baekhyun looked up at him, and found the Titan watching him back. This time, the scavenger didn’t look away. “Back from the Golden Age. There were portals there— they lead to Crota’s throne world. I would know.”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun acquiesced. “Dead Orbit hired me to raid the station to confirm Awoken intel from there. But I ran into a bit of trouble and got stranded in the Moon for a week or so.”

“And Kris rescued you because Luhan told him to?” Sehun asked. He lowered his voice. “Damn. Everything is connected somehow.”

“Well, you know, whatever,” Baekhyun interrupted. “It doesn’t really matter. What matters is that we found you, and now, we need to take you back. Commander Suho wants you by his side, Traveller knows why.” 

Kris frowned. “Suho made Commander?” 

“I nominated him.” Yixing interjected.

Kris shook his head. “Okay, fine. Look, I’ll meet with Suho, alright. I know my duty. But I came here to get Luhan, and sure, I got a little distracted with the portals and because of him I might add, but I’m not leaving without him. He’ll be a great asset to the cause.”

“With all due respect, uh, Kris— that sounds like a terrible idea,” Chanyeol countered. “Luhan is a traitor to the Last City.” 

“He’s also the greatest Guardian of all times,” Kris retorted as if it was obvious. “Do you have a seer, too?”

“Yes. I’m it. I see things.” Sehun spoke up. 

Kris sighed. “Alright. Do you have someone with the ability to travel through space and time _without_ the Light?” 

Yixing shuffled his feet. “We could do with someone a little less deranged. But yeah, that’s a good reason.” 

“Alright,” Baekhyun separated himself from the wall he had leant against. “If that’s what it takes, then let’s go get Luhan.”

“What? No,” Kris replied with finality. He pointed to himself and the other Guardians. “ _We’re_ going. You’re staying right here, with Mongryong.”

“Oh, super! I love company!” Mongryong enthused. “Especially with my new Captain!” 

“Excuse me, what?” Baekhyun questioned. “No, I’m going with you!”

“I’m not letting Luhan anywhere you, Baekhyun Byun.” Kris said. Yixing straightened up. 

“That’s just basically admitting Luhan is really deranged and this is a terrible—”

“—He’s unpredictable! Not that deranged.” The black-haired Hunter answered. “You don’t even have a helmet, Baekhyun! And you just faced off with a Taken Champion that came out of absolutely nowhere.”

“Neither does Sehun!” Baekhyun protested. “And sure, the Champion is kinda concerning, but we can’t deal with that right now—”

“—But your Sehun has the Light! How many times do I need to remind you that you don’t have the Light, you’re not a Guardian, and all you ever do is get into trouble?” Kris yelled. 

And— well. What could Baekhyun say to that, when it was true? He ducked his head in what he hated to admit was shame. None of this would have happened, he knew deep in his heart, from the invasion to right this very second, if he had just let himself die when he was supposed to.

He could hear Chanyeol and Sehun defend him to Kris, insisting he was perfectly capable of handling himself with Luhan or whoever, had he seen what Baekhyun had done to that Darkblade? But it didn’t matter.

“Okay,” Baekhyun finally relented quietly, to the surprise of everyone, even Kris, if the shooting up of his eyebrows was anything to go by. “I’ll stay here. I’ll— I’ll try and figure out why the Abyssal Champion was here or something.” 

Kris hesitated for only a moment, before he steeled his expression into what had made him known as the legendary Guardian he was. He transmatted his own helmet with a snap of his fingers into his head and hid his face from Baekhyun.

“Guardians,” He stressed the word. “Let’s move out.”

And he was out. The other three, at first, didn’t move. It was Sehun who finally reacted, pretending to stab the air where Kris had been. 

“I cannot believe that guy!” The younger Hunter yelled, running a hand through his matted hair. “Is that seriously my new Vanguard? Do I really have to listen to him? What do I have to do to get Sungwoo back?”

“He’s not that bad, Sehun.” Yixing assured him, even if he didn’t sound very pleased. He was following Kris out the door, and he gestured for Sehun and Chanyeol to follow him. “C’mon. I’ll explain his logic on the way, even if it’s a flawed one.”

It left Chanyeol alone with Baekhyun, when Sehun reluctantly went after Yixing— or well. Alone with Mongryong, even if the AI had been suspiciously silent for a while.

At first, neither of them moved. Then, Chanyeol stepped to Baekhyun slowly, as if he was an animal he didn’t want to scare away. Baekhyun’s eyes felt misty, and he refused to look up, focusing on the bullet holes in Chanyeol’s chest. But Chanyeol didn’t make him. He only grabbed Baekhyun’s hand gently and squeezed it.

“I’ll talk to him,” Chanyeol promised. “I’ll make this right. This is your fight, too.” 

Then Chanyeol let of Baekhyun’s hand, and he was gone too. Baekhyun felt safe enough to cry, until Mongryong reminded him of his presence with a loud ‘whoop’.

“Whoop!” The supercomputer lit up. “That was just _the worst_ , Captain! I really despise the Kris Wu.”

Baekhyun chuckled, sniffling right after and wiping at his eyes. 

“He really is the worst,” Baekhyun was all too happy to agree. “But I swear— he means well. Sometimes.” 

“That Luhan must be a piece of cake!” Mongryong continued. “Anyway, Captain, my software is designed to help my crew as best as I can. As it is, you’re all the crew I have, so I must do my best to cheer you up! How about I put on a little music? My previous captain enjoyed it very much.”

Baekhyun didn’t need to be told twice. Something in his expression must’ve given away his affirmation, because suddenly, the cabin was filled with a sweet tune— drums, and some sort of bell, and a gently strumming guitar. Baekhyun had never heard it before, but he was already feeling a little bit better, as he tapped his foot to the rhythm. 

_Listen baby_

_Ain’t no mountain high_

_Ain’t no river low_

_Ain’t no river wide enough, baby_

Mongryong turned out to be great company. He was an amazing listener to all of his new Captain’s woes, and virtually unable to share the information with anyone. Baekhyun had to love those old security accesses. His collection of music, also, quite surpassed Baekhyun’s own. 

Baekhyun told him everything, swearing him under oath. The best thing about ancient AIs— they didn’t judge you for your choices. Or if they did, they had tact modules to keep them in check around their Captains.

Captain. Right.

“I gotta ask, though,” Baekhyun wondered when they were coming up on two hours together. “You just went and turned me into Captain of… Your remains. Which, I mean, thank you, totally appreciate it! But wasn’t it a little… Sudden?” 

Mongryong made a humming sound, which glitched slightly. “Well. Yes. I am Mongryong!” 

Baekhyun frowned. “Yes.”

“And I am a Failsafe! But it’s been a while since I’ve had anything at all to safeguard, Captain.” He explained as if Baekhyun had not spoken. “It’s been very, very lonely! You reminded me of my previous Captain with your bravery. I miss him very much. I may not have not have real feelings, but even I could use someone that understands me.” 

Baekhyun nodded slowly. He could relate to that.

“Plus, my impulsivity modules are way out of whack.”

Baekhyun snorted. He could _definitely_ relate to that. 

“You and I are two peas in a pod, Mongryong,” He quipped in amusement and wistfulness. “I’m very lonely, too. And my impulsivity modules are a mess, as well.”

“Silly Captain. You have no modules!”

Baekhyun laughed heartily at that. They were silent for a while, just listening to the music, Baekhyun fiddling with a loose string in his poncho.

“Say, Mongryong,” Baekhyun finally gathered the courage to ask. “Did you ever wish for something so badly, nothing else mattered?”

“Oh, yes!” Mongryong said immediately. “That is a very easy question. I wish I had a body! I have had it as my life goal for the past eight hundred and ninety-five days! I am very tired of Nessus and being stuck here.”

Baekhyun didn’t say anything. He had heard this before. Mongryong continued.

“What do you wish for, Captain?” 

“That is a very easy question,” Baekhyun answered, echoing the AI’s words with a little smirk. “Ever since I was a little boy, I wished I was a Guardian.”

“The Kris Wu said it’s very hard to become one.” Mongryong commented. 

Baekhyun made a sound as if not totally agreeing. “I mean. You just need to be dead. And then have a Ghost find you and choose you and revive you.” 

An idea popped in Baekhyun’s brain. It was ridiculous, but it made his whole body shoot up, as if shot with a bolt of electricity. He opened and closed his mouth a bunch of times, unsure of how to formulate what was taking form in his mind.

“Is everything alright, Captain?”

Baekhyun looked at Mongryong up and down.

“I can’t make my wish come true, Mongryong,” Baekhyun remarked. “But hey, can you remote fly my ship? I may have a way to make yours happen.” 

“Oh!” Mongryong perked up, as if that was possible. “Of course, Captain! Are you the glistening Holacanthus or the very lacklustre Häkke Vimana?”

“The very lacklustre Häkke Vimana,” Baekhyun replied. “Thank you for your honesty.” 

Thinking like Kris Wu was no easy feat. Baekhyun Byun had enough with his own through process, anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! I'm sorry for writing 15,000+ words every time. I can't stop me :( 
> 
> so how you feel about Kris? what do you think Baekhyun's about to do? How did the Champion travel all the way to an unstable centaur outside the solar system?
> 
> The answers are right there, except for Kris. That's your own :)):):):)
> 
> see you on the next one!


	7. ABHORRENT IMPERATIVE

**vii. ABHORRENT IMPERATIVE**

  
  


“Are you ready, Mongryong?” 

Mongryong cleared his non-existent throat. He made a bunch of sounds, trying out each new voice he had available, until he found a high-pitched female one he was satisfied with.

“How’s this, Captain?” Mongryong asked, and it was absolutely perfect. Baekhyun gave him a thumbs up and a happy grin. “I think I am ready!”

“That’s great!” Baekhyun commended. “Alright, we’re good to go. Remember the steps. Play the song.” 

Music flooded the cabin of the Exodus Black once more. Baekhyun had grown quite accustomed to the tune— the drums, the bells, the bass, and he fell easily into its rhythm. It was ridiculously catchy, and he hadn’t grown tired of it. Instead, he just asked for it over and over again, until he had learnt every word and beat.

“ _Listen, baby_ ,” The grey-haired man began singing along with the male vocalist centuries away, tapping his foot and swinging his body along. “ _Ain’t no mountain high, ain’t no valley low, ain’t no river wide enough, baby_! You’re up, Mongryong!”

And Mongryong came out from his hiding spot behind his old body, the new one –the shell of a Ghost, the one with a star map Baekhyun had liked so much— lighting up beautifully with a soft orange glow. And the AI-turned-little-light sang. 

“ _If you need me, call me, no matter where you are_ ,” Mongryong danced around Baekhyun like they had practiced, having much more control over his new body than when the scavenger had managed to upload his heavy-duty software to the shell. “ _No matter how far._ ”

“ _Don’t worry, baby_!” Baekhyun interjected with an energetic kick.

“ _Just call my name, I’ll be there in a hurry! You don’t have to worry! ‘Cause baby, there_ —” 

Baekhyun and Mongryong turned to each other, singing directly to the other as they danced, Mongryong floating in circles around Baekhyun. “ _Ain’t no mountain high enough, ain’t no valley low enough! Ain’t no river wide enough! To keep me from getting to you, babe_.”

Baekhyun caressed Mongryong’s bright shell, as if petting a cat, and Mongryong almost giggled. “ _Remember the day I set you free, I told you, you could always count on me, darling_.”

He wasn’t even lying. He felt the lyrics, and he continued to belt out, “ _From that day on, I made a vow, I’ll be there when you want me, someway, somehow! Oh baby, there_ —”

“ _Ain’t no mountain high enough_!” Mongryong joined in, as they twirled in tandem. “ _Ain’t no valley low enough! Ain’t no_ — intruder alert!”

So into the song as he was, it took a second for Baekhyun to register what Mongryong had said in his regular, male-presenting voice. He pouted at the not-quite-Ghost.

“Mongryong! We almost had it this time!”

“I’m sorry, Captain!” The not-quite-AI-now-either replied, sounding genuinely sorry. “The Guardians are back, and they have someone else with them. I presume it’s that Luhan the Kris Wu mentioned.” 

Oh shit. Baekhyun froze, eyes widening as he turned to the gateway that lead into Mongryong’s cabin. If he had to be totally honest, it had been quite a few hours since the Guardians had left, and Baekhyun hadn’t considered what their reaction to Mongryong would be for even a second. He had been too caught up in his little engineering project, wishes, self-pity, message recording, and perfecting the choreography of what Baekhyun had declared their theme song.

“Shit, I hadn’t even thought they would come back.” The grey-haired man admitted.

“Captain, they made it very clear they would with their body language and words,” Mongryong unhelpfully supplied. And then Sehun was coming through the door, and everything was going to go to hell. “Oh! They’re here! Look at me, Guardian Sehun!”

At the sight of an unfamiliar Ghost with a familiar voice, Sehun and Vivi stopped dead on their tracks. The Hunter was wearing a shiny new helmet and held a matching one under his arm— meant to replace Baekhyun’s own, surely. 

“M-Mongryong?” Vivi was the one to speak up.

“Yes, I am Mongryong!” Mongryong replied all-too-happily. “Call me Mongryong!” 

Kris was coming right behind Sehun. When he spotted Sehun and Baekhyun frozen, he tensed, as if expecting to find Baekhyun in some sort of distress— the Hunter took one look around the cabin and stopped when he spotted Mongryong’s shell.

And then Chanyeol was walking in, and gasping, and then Yixing, and then a totally unfamiliar person with Warlock robes and feathers and some sort of bird head piece, face covered with a crimson cloth and oh, this was just Baekhyun’s worst nightmare.

“The gang’s all here, how neat!” Mongryong said cheerfully, either unaware or uncaring of the suddenly very heavy atmosphere between all of them. “The Captain didn’t think you would come back! I corrected him, of course! We are happy to see you have survived Nessus’s hostile inhabitants.” 

Baekhyun sucked in his lips, took his hands up to his hair and pulled slightly, spun on his spot nervously, and then attempted a very tight grin. He was in so much trouble.

“Uhm,” He tried. “How did it go?” 

Kris transmatted away his helmet, revealing a very unimpressed face. 

“Baekhyun Byun,” The Guardian intoned slowly, as if that would keep him from yelling at Baekhyun. “What did you do?” 

What Baekhyun had done was quite simple. Or not. It depended on how you looked at it.

Mongryong was a Golden Age computer core— the heart of the Exodus Black, aware of each part of itself, or himself, even if the titanic craft had been strewn over the surface of Nessus for centuries. But he wasn’t _the_ Exodus Black itself. The crashed colony ship merely housed the operating system and code that made Mongryong who he was. 

Ghosts, on the other hand, were unfathomable beings, conscious fragments of the Traveller, occupying tiny drone bodies to get around. With an intuitive understanding of what their mission was –raise their Chosen from the dead, bond with them, and guide them down the path of the Light— the creatures developed unique identities. They were nothing like artificial intelligence, but rather, artificial intelligence had come quite close to be like Ghosts once, in the pinnacle of Humanity. 

And Humanity had always struggled to comprehend what Ghosts truly, completely were. However, there was something even Baekhyun knew— once they left the little shells that held them, that carapace of theirs would remain forever empty. Maybe a little bit of Light would remain, housing their last moments at most, but that's as far as it went.

So, as Baekhyun understood it— a Ghost shell was merely a conduit for something greater, and Mongryong was merely a software that could be uploaded anywhere. In theory, there was no reason for the Ghost shell to reject anything that tried to inhabit it after its little light was gone, and there was no reason for Mongryong not to fit into the shell.

And what did you know, Baekhyun just had a bunch of dead Ghosts in the Häkke Vimana lying around, which would most definitely end up in the Spider’s hands on their way back to Earth if he didn’t give them another use. 

“I don’t want to accidentally kill you, Mongryong,” The scavenger had told the AI as he shed off his armour and poncho, until he was left in only his t-shirt, pants, and boots. “So, you gotta talk my ear off about anything at all, just so I know you’re still with me, okay?” 

“I will gladly do so, Captain!” Mongryong had assured him. “I have been metaphorically dying to speak to someone for the past five hundred years!”

And talk Mongryong did, while Baekhyun gutted his mainframe with his tools. He was glad that the computer had no pain sensors, because Baekhyun was a messy technician and tinkerer, and it was a gruesome scene, Mongryong torn apart as the grey-haired man worked to dislodge him and then open him like a tin can.

Mongryong didn’t lose his cheerful disposition, even as he narrated Baekhyun the tragedy of his existence. The Exodus Black had been travelling to the Kepler-186 system, but they had run into the unchartered unstable centaur 7066 Nessus on the way and crashed landed on it dramatically. Most of its crew had been killed in the landing, and that’s when Mongryong had been activated as the failsafe. Those who remained, and Mongryong himself, had sent multiple distress messages to Earth, but none had even left the planet— Mongryong now understood that the Vex had altered space and time here, and all signals had been lost in the atmosphere, unable to escape the planetoid itself.

Mongryong had tried to help. He really did. But there was only so much a damaged supercomputer glued to a wall could do for desperate humans in an unknown world. They had all eventually succumbed to the Vex— to be captured, tortured, experimented on, converted, and killed by the robotic entities. The Exodus Black’s previous Captain had one day just disappeared to never return, and Mongryong had never actually even declared him dead.

When there was no one left, Mongryong had become dormant until Luhan had arrived. However, Luhan hadn’t attempted contact with the AI— no, that had been Kris Wu, who was eager for an ally in the centaur against an old friend who had turned into an enemy so long ago. 

But Kris wasn’t very smart with people. Much less with people-like machines. He was the kind of Guardian who thought their sole legend transcended all barriers— even total isolation and abandonment.

“I’m Kris Wu,” Kris introduced himself, surprised and confused, in a message Mongryong had taken the liberty to record and show Baekhyun, as if saying ‘can you believe this guy?’. “You know. _The_ Kris Wu.”

That explained a few nicknames, at least. Kris had kept contact with Mongryong during his monitoring of Luhan and took what insights the AI had on the Vex quite seriously, until it had actually mattered. Luhan had never tried to talk to Mongryong himself.

“He was either always with the Kris Wu, watching the Vex, or teleporting away,” Mongryong explained. “Therefore, I have never met this Luhan. I am not sure if I want to, Captain!” 

Mongryong’s sad story had only fuelled Baekhyun further. In more ways than one, he knew what it was like to be both used as a resource and disregarded by Guardians at the same time. Knew what it was like to spend days on end on his own, aching for company. He had stained his hair, his face, his clothes with oil. He had zapped his fingers with electricity until they were red and sensitive, and he was light-headed. But he hadn’t stopped.

How could he? When Mongryong had been nothing but kind to him, when he considered him a kindred spirit already, when his only wish was something so similar to what had gotten Baekhyun into this whole mess with the Nine in tow. In a way, it was not only a way to help Mongryong to be free to leave Nessus, but also, redeem himself slightly in his own eyes. 

The computer core had shut up once the actual uploading process began. Baekhyun had gnawed his lip open in his anxiousness to see the fruits of his labour, had recorded a message for Baekbeom, had paced. It had at least been a couple hours, before finally, the tiny shell became alive with a light like nothing Baekhyun had seen before— or rather, he had. Mongryong shone orange, just like he had as a computer core, rather than the baby blue of Ghosts.

“Captain!” Mongryong had quipped joyfully. “I’ve got no strings!”

They had run some tests after that. Mongryong retained some sort of connection to the Exodus Black, his modules, his memories, his logs, his functions— even his malfunctions. He didn’t have any of the abilities of a Ghost, be it healing, producing Light, or having a connection to the Traveller.

None of that mattered to him, though. It was the incredibly elementary ability to move what he truly craved, and even if he had no actual limbs and it gave him some trouble to be so nimble at first, Mongryong got the hang of it eventually.

If Baekhyun cried a little, only the two of them would have to know. 

He was really proud of himself. The same couldn’t be said for the Guardians, though.

“You basically took a corpse and used it so it would house an artificial intelligence it wasn’t meant for.” Kris summarised with annoyance. 

“Wow,” Baekhyun responded defiantly. “Way to downplay all I’ve been slaving over for the better part of five hours. I made a Ghost shell work without a Ghost—”

“—Shut up, Frankenstein,” The Hunter snapped, rubbing his temples and the bridge of his nose alternatively, as if willing away a headache. That headache had a first name, family name, and pretty messy silver hair. “Even the Hive consider necromancy heresy.” 

Baekhyun rolled his eyes so hard he got a bit dizzy. 

It wasn’t like the others were faring much better than Kris, though. Sehun and Vivi looked positively queasy. Chanyeol seemed conflicted, while Toben had been very vocal with his disgust. Yixing and Cat had walked around Mongryong over and over, with unhindered, morbid curiosity, whispering among themselves. And their new friend— well. Luhan hadn’t stepped further into the cabin from the threshold they had come through, nor had he lowered the cloth that covered his face, nor revealed his Ghost. He hadn’t said a single word, even if his intense eyes bore into Baekhyun. It was easier to ignore him that way. 

“I don’t give a fuck what the Hive consider as heresy,” Baekhyun retorted. “I don’t exactly follow Sword Logic. And really, who are you to judge, Wu? All of you are reanimated corpses.”

Kris groaned with so much frustration, Baekhyun shrunk a little, but he didn't back down.

“You’re impossible, Baekhyun Byun,” He declared, resigned. “I made you stay here to protect you, and I know leaving you alone unsupervised anywhere is just asking for trouble, but never, in a million years, I would have thought that, of all things you could get up to, you’d get up to—” 

“—Protect me from what?” Baekhyun once again challenged, feeling just as humiliated as he had when they had left. “Luhan? You still brought him here, didn’t you?”

Kris glared at Baekhyun. Then, he turned to glare at Chanyeol, surprisingly, and waved in Baekhyun’s general direction.

“This,” The tall man stated, deadpan. “This is what you want to get involved in. Do you understand that?”

So, they had talked about him. Half of Baekhyun wanted to know what they had discussed, while the other half could already tell it hadn’t been all that positive. The scavenger couldn’t help but to flush in shame and self-consciousness when Chanyeol finally looked directly at him. 

He was covered in grease, in blood, in grime, in sweat. His hair was ugly and a rat’s nest. Baekhyun tried to school his expression into something somewhat aloof, but he knew his eyes betrayed him— they always shone wildly, Taeyeon had often told him, sometimes fondly and sometimes in irritation. Like a wild animal. And Kris always had a special way of making him small, which was quickly transferring to the serious Titan. 

Baekhyun knew he was a disaster zone. He just hated it when he was reminded of the fact. For the first time considering he had gone too far –even if he didn’t regret helping Mongryong— he prepared himself mentally for Chanyeol’s rejection. 

Whatever they had, budding as it had been, would surely die here, he reckoned, as Chanyeol shook his head.

But then Chanyeol surprised him, as he spoke for the first time since arriving. 

“Stop talking about Baekhyun like he’s a child,” The Titan chastised, and Kris was taken aback. So was Baekhyun, to be fair, even if he couldn’t help the small smile that immediately grazed him. “I don’t understand why he even tries to put up with any of the bullshit you pull him through.”

Was Chanyeol talking back to Kris Wu? _The_ Kris Wu? The Hunter Vanguard? His boss? His senior? Tension could be cut with a knife, until RouRou dispelled it easily.

“Tell me about it,” The Ghost grumbled. “This is a fun fact: Baekhyun Byun has the patience of a saint.”

Kris squawked. It was a very undignified sound, which had Yixing laughing very openly. Sehun tried to hold back, but in the end, he snickered as well at Kris’s expense. Baekhyun grinned. 

“My very own Ghost,” Kris began, “Betraying me like this—”

“—Kris,” Yixing interrupted, mirth clear in his voice. “You’re always so harsh on Baekhyun. We talked about this on the way, didn’t we? I know this Mongryong thing threw you off completely, and old habits die hard, but—” 

“—This is really impressive,” Chanyeol declared with finality and confidence, and oh, Baekhyun could swoon. He was sure he was swooning. “What Baekhyun did with Mongryong is not only a feat of engineering, it’s incredibly compassionate.”

Those were butterflies. Baekhyun had to physically restrain himself from vibrating with glee, Chanyeol’s dark eyes not leaving him once. 

“The whole Bray family would be jealous of this,” Yixing chimed in. “Just saying.”

“I am very happy for what the Captain has done for me!” Mongryong added cheerily. “He asked for what I wished for, and then worked really hard to make it happen. The Exodus Black was incredibly big, and yet, in this Friendly Ghost body, there is much more space! I can go through doors!” 

“I agree with Chanyeol, Kris,” Sehun said very bluntly. “I mean. It’s weird. But it’s also pretty cool.”

“You have all lost your minds,” Kris decided. “Every single one of you.”

“The Last City has been terrible for you, Kris. It has made you rigid and severe.”

The new voice startled Baekhyun in how gentle it was. Luhan was finally speaking. The Guardians didn’t seem to be as confounded as Baekhyun, but they had had a few hours to get used to his presence. Kris sighed heavily and leant against the wall that had housed Mongryong with pursed lips. 

“You’ve forgotten that there’s rules we need to follow, Luhan,” The Hunter asserted unhappily. “I’m not being like this for the sake of it. You’re still on thin ice.” 

And then, Luhan was lowering the cloth, pulling down on the fabric gently, and giving way instead to a youthful, handsome face. Baekhyun was dumbstruck by the sight. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought Sehun and this man were siblings— their features were similar, and they had dark hair, even if Luhan had softer edges, a smaller nose, seemed even younger and, at the same time, incredibly older. 

Beyond the wisdom in his eyes, though, even from a distance, Baekhyun could see a glint of something untamed and fierce in Luhan. He could appreciate that. It scared him a little, though. Legends didn’t do him justice. 

“You’re being ‘like this’ because you care very much about Baekhyun Byun’s safety, you have made it clear,” Luhan clarified with no pretence. “Even if I promised I meant him no harm.”

Now standing before Luhan himself, Baekhyun reckoned he didn’t seem _that_ intimidating. He couldn’t help but to glance at Luhan up and down, making the Guardian chuckle. Kris didn’t find it amusing.

“Well, Luhan, I can’t trust you, after all,” The Hunter countered. “You got me stuck in a teleportation loop on purpose and didn’t even try to help me out of it. If I didn’t think you were an asset to the war effort, I’d leave you here to rot.” 

Luhan was stepping closer to Baekhyun, who instinctively took a step back. He did notice that both Chanyeol and Yixing stiffened a little as they watched the Warlock, but they didn’t make a move. Just what had happened during the time they were gone between them?

“I told you exactly what to do with the portals and you chose to ignore my recommendations due to your own mistrust,” Luhan clarified nonchalantly. “And anyway, I couldn’t help you. I was busy.” 

“Busy,” Kris repeated, unconvinced. “Busy turning time on its head—”

“Well, let’s just move on from this, okay?” Yixing suggested in his most pleasant tone. “Congratulations on the new body, Mongryong, really. Baekhyun, Luhan has agreed to help us out on the fight with the Red Legion. It took very little convincing, actually.” 

“Great!” Baekhyun replied, giving Luhan a thumbs up, glad to have the heat off him. “Welcome to the fireteam, Luhan. Should I call you Luhan? Lu? Han?”

“Luhan is fine,” Luhan answered coolly. “I’m here because of you, Baekhyun Byun.”

“Luhan.” Kris warned. Luhan only smirked a bit and shrugged. Baekhyun thought of asking what he meant, but thought better of it, and just shook his own head.

“I suppose my reputation also precedes me,” The scavenger conceded instead. “Does this mean we’re going back to Earth, then? Commander Suho will need a warning, so he’s prepared when he sees Luhan. Good thing we have around twenty hours to think of what to say.”

“Actually,” Sehun interjected, “Luhan wanted something in return for his help.”

Baekhyun nodded. He, too, wanted multiple things for his help. But he just got what he deserved, usually. Luhan probably had a bit more leverage, though. “And what would that be?”

“I want us to go rescue Xiumin and the Guardians you sent for him,” Luhan stated easily. “So they don’t meet a terrible Taken end in Io.”

Baekhyun balked.

“Excuse me? Taken on Io?” He echoed. “No, we just had to deal with _one_ Taken here and it was a mess. And uhm, don’t you think D.O, Chen, and Kai are quite capable of taking care of themselves against Taken? I know you don’t probably follow the news, Luhan, but they’re—”

“—Actually, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol was the one to interrupt him now, sounding serious. “Luhan saw their imminent deaths, and Xiumin’s. And he was…” A sigh. “…So very kind to show us all.”

“Jongok’s gone, as it turns out,” Yixing added grimly. “Luhan took us to a simulation of the future, courtesy of the… Vex. None of them make it.” 

“Back up, back up, back up!” Baekhyun asked. “What did you guys see? What do you mean with a simulation of their future? Dumb it down for me.”

“I don’t think it’s necessary to dumb anything down for you, Baekhyun Byun.” Luhan said, still with that strange smirk on his face. “Xiaotong can explain, however. She has a way with words. Xiaotong?”

Luhan’s Ghost uncloaked herself, and Baekhyun paled. She was one of the most beautiful Ghosts he had seen, her shell shaped like a star, golden and dazzling. In fact, she looked like quite like the symbol Baekhyun had impulsively gotten tattooed on his forearm once, after seeing it in a book. With how legendary Luhan and Xiaotong were, the symbol was probably meant for her. This was embarrassing. Baekhyun hid his arm behind his back subtly.

“We don’t really have much time, Baekhyun.” She spoke, sounding cocky and smug and playful, all at once, as if she knew how impressive she was. “These Guardians here already had a very hard time wrapping their head around it. We trust in your capacity to follow.” 

No Guardian protested this jab at their intelligence. Baekhyun swallowed, intimidated by her, not really finding it very funny. “That’s a lot of pressure.” 

“Eh, you’ll be fine.” The Ghost dismissed. And then, she proceeded to explain:

“Our constant study of the Vex has allowed us to unlock their secrets to time and space travelling,” Xiaotong said succinctly. “The Vex are obsessed with changing the past, the present, the future— to their own vision. What we consider beautiful, they think is imperfect. And we have explored every timeline they have simulated, which are _a lot_ , in order to understand what their vision of a perfect universe is, and well, just because we can.”

“Okay, so you’re time travellers.” Baekhyun pointed out, mostly for himself. Luhan grinned, and Xiaotong laughed.

“I knew you were smart!” She complimented, teasingly. “Yes. We time travel, and we don’t need the Light for that, and we also knew that our friends from the Last City would work quite hard to get it back, so we weren’t worried.”

“What did worry us, though,” Luhan remarked, eyes boring into Baekhyun. “Is that we didn’t even _feel_ the Red Legion coming. And well, I was making predictions about the Taken War before the Vanguard even knew who Oryx could be. So, you can understand how it was… Disconcerting.” 

“Big blow to the old ego,” Xiaotong mocked her own Guardian, mischievous. “Han here isn’t very used to that.”

“Neither is Xiaotong.” Luhan retorted, without missing a beat. The Ghost huffed, good-naturedly.

“Whatever,” She continued, floating over to Baekhyun, until she was right by his face. “You understand. We just _had_ to look for the cause of that big, fat, Dominus-shaped blind spot. And we couldn’t do it in Mercury— that whole place was bonkers.” 

“What does that even mean?” Baekhyun asked. Luhan’s eyes twinkled, and it was pretty, but it wasn’t friendly.

“You know exactly what I mean,” The ancient Warlock replied almost lazily. “After all, you’ve been instrumental in making the whole planet the way it is.”

Baekhyun’s stomach dropped to his feet. Was Luhan just exposing him like that with absolutely no qualms? However, once more, no one said a peep. Baekhyun dared to look around and gasped at what he saw. 

The Guardians, the Ghosts, Mongryong— they were all frozen.

Luhan waved it off as if it wasn’t a big deal, smirking once more. “Don’t worry about them. I won’t let them know what you did. Yet.” 

Baekhyun wasn’t breathing. His head was beginning to pound. Was it the Darkness or was it the Nine? He couldn’t tell. Luhan has just _stopped time_ around them and he hadn’t even noticed.

“I saw the whole thing, just to understand,” Luhan continued. “I watched you make an ill-advised pit stop in Luna. I watched you see that disturbance, report it, and curiosity getting the better of you. I watched you find that pyramid. I watched you get infected and not even notice. At first.”

Luhan was stepping closer, and this time, there was no Kris to stop him.

**Without his Light, he is but a human.**

**Kill him.**

**Dispose of him.**

“Don’t listen to them,” Luhan chided, as if he could hear the voices in Baekhyun’s head just as clearly as the scavenger could. “I won’t harm you, but the Nine certainly will. And they have been hurting you, haven’t you, Skulking Fox? Showing you things you aren’t meant to see.” 

Baekhyun felt like no fox— he was a deer caught in headlights. Perhaps a deer in headlights had a better chance of survival— now he truly understood how Luhan was dangerous. He harnessed Darkness, even if it was through the Vex. A thin veil separated him from the abyss. He had played the game so long, it no longer influenced him.

“I watched you continue to Cocytus, suddenly plagued with nightmares you couldn’t even begin to understand,” Luhan was still talking, Xiaotong and he was walking slow circles around Baekhyun, who allowed it, yet feeling like he would strike any moment out of fear. “I watched you unravel in that space station. I watched you succumb to the phantoms and then— cross those portals.”

Luhan leant in, whispering in Baekhyun’s ear. It made him shiver unpleasantly.

“I watched you strike a deal,” The Warlock was relentless. “I watched your communion with Mercury. A little box to keep your Nightmares away, even make them do your bidding. And for what? A way into the Last City, so the Nine could just watch, just like I did, when Dominus Ghaul arrived and decimated the Guardians for the Light of the Traveller. For a way to get a physical form.” 

Luhan moved away, and Baekhyun let out a heavy breath. His head was still whispering, grumbling, roaring, yet muted at the same time. The Warlock was now entertaining himself with Mongryong, making him twirl slowly in his frozen spot with amusement.

“This little Mongryong,” Luhan said affectionately. “What did that Titan call what you did? Ah. Compassionate. It’s true. Nessus is very lonely, and the Vex aren’t the most welcoming of races. But the parallel is just— written in the stars, truly,” He turned to Baekhyun again, grinning sweetly. “Exquisitely executed.” 

“You’ve proven you can use a body of Light to house a body with no particular properties,” Xiaotong took over her Guardian. “Just like Mercury wants. Just like Dominus Ghaul wants. But I don’t know if the whole consciousness of Mercury will fit into a single Ghost shell, Baekhyunnie, dear.” 

“The Nine are just very large,” Baekhyun acquiesced, voice low and somewhat lost. “I cannot explain it in any other way. But they are everywhere, and if they want, perhaps, with enough Ghosts—”

“Mercury has already been torn to shreds and paid a pretty price for what they did, Baekhyun,” Luhan cut in, not harshly, but definitely on edge. “They’re being mined until there’s nothing left just to power that Almighty. Even if you succeeded, and Dominus Ghaul found a way to make physical bodies of actual Light, and one of those went to Mercury, they’d still be a broken, mangled, insane creature.” 

**I have allowed you to dwell and hide in me for centuries.**

**You will allow me to do as I please.**

“Don’t talk.” Luhan ordered the entity, not even bothered by it. “Whenever you do, you hurt Baekhyun. And when he gets hurt, the infection spreads, and the Nightmares get loose. Now, _that_ is something Humanity isn’t ready to see just yet.” 

Baekhyun dully noted his nose was bleeding. Luhan looked around and offered Baekhyun his own poncho to clean himself up. Baekhyun gladly took it and wiped off his nose.

“They’re already getting out of control, aren’t they?” Luhan asked, and Baekhyun didn’t really answer. The Warlock shook his head. “That Nightmare in your pocket already made an appearance without you allowing it to. It won’t be long before you have visions spilling out, phantoms chasing you once more.”

Baekhyun continued to be silent. He believed Luhan— after all, he had seen it happen.

“I watched you get rescued by Kris, who just thought you’d gotten dye job rather than commune with the Nine on a level so deep that it physically changed you.” Luhan clicked his tongue. “Kris has always been naïve, and he trusts you blindly. I watched you go home and try out your Nightmares in action. What a way to execute undesirable Guardians, I must say. So very creative. Shin Malphur would be proud of your machinations.”

“Would he?” Baekhyun wondered hopelessly. Luhan nodded.

“It’s a means to an end, my child,” The Guardian answered. “Shin is no better. And you’ve been incredibly resilient through all of this.”

“If any of this comes out, Luhan—” Baekhyun shook his head. “I’d rather be the Vanguard’s mascot through this whole mess. I just want to heal myself. I want to get rid of this sickness. I want to live.”

“I know,” Luhan agreed. “But you’re closer to Darkness than you are to the Light now. It’s in my interest to save Mercury, or what’s left of it. The Infinite Forest, my Sundial, my Lighthouse, they're all there and losing them would set back my research for millennia. I’m here to help you finish what you’ve started, Baekhyun Byun, because now you’ve also put my dearest friend at risk.” 

Baekhyun didn’t say anything. He guessed it began with an X.

“I also watched Xiumin follow Jongok to Io for ‘answers’,” The dark-haired man scoffed. “Answers in Io! There are many questions before you get any sort of answer. Jongok won’t be able to take it. She will kill herself if she must. She will deliver herself into the Darkness herself to be Taken.”

Luhan seemed affected— actually affected by the words that were coming out of his mouth. It was Baekhyun’s turn to watch him closely, curiously. He had an inkling it wasn’t Jongok’s demise what bothered him. 

“Xiumin has been all alone there. A silent witness of Jongok losing her mind, the Vex coming into Io, the Cabal attempting to mine the raw energy under the surface, and the Taken trying to drink whatever remnants of Light there is.” When he said this, the Warlock sounded regretful and sad. He was still fierce, however.

“I’ve watched him too,” He confessed, more quietly. “And he has no way out. The arrival of the fireteam you sent will alert every single Taken to his presence. They will be outnumbered, and lost, and they will die, if we don’t go stop them.” 

Baekhyun had grown attached to Kyungsoo, to Jongdae, to Jongin. He didn’t want them to lose their lives like that— to Taken. He didn’t want them to die on a foreign planet. And Luhan— 

“You want to rescue Xiumin,” Baekhyun gathered, with a little more courage. “And once we get him, what?”

“Once Minseok is safe and sound in my arms, even if only a second,” Luhan confessed with an intensity Baekhyun wasn’t expecting, but he filed the name away in his mind for later. “Then I will save your fireteam too. We’ll all go to the EDZ, and I will follow whatever rules your Commander wants me to follow. I will help you break your contract with the Nine, and I will help you ward off the Darkness once and for all.”

Baekhyun nodded. Contemplated this. Looked up to Luhan, still unsure.

“And you won’t say a word of what I did to anyone?” He asked, though he felt like he could beg for it. Luhan and Xiaotong nodded in perfect synchronisation.

“We’ll even convince them that they’re way off base if they get any weird visions.” Xiaotong promised. “That Sehun kid? He’s gonna be trouble for you.”

“Oh, yeah,” Baekhyun conceded easily. “He already thinks I’m a key part for the victory over Dominus Ghaul. He hasn’t figured out it’s because I’m a traitor to the Last City.”

Luhan hummed. “Traitor is such a strong word, for a City that has given us so little freedom, isn’t it?”

Baekhyun silently, secretly agreed.

“And Sehun is a baby seer, even if extremely talented. With the appropriate guidance, he might move in to replace me.” Luhan gave Baekhyun a significant look. “Naturally, I won’t help him do that.” 

“So, do we have a deal, Baekhyunnie?” Xiaotong asked. “Will you help us help you?”

“Every single deal I’ve struck in the past months has been detrimental to me.” Baekhyun deadpanned.

Luhan chuckled. “You can trust me.”

“Not even your friends trust you,” Baekhyun retorted, although it was only a fact. “ _Kris_ doesn’t trust you, and he trusts _me_ , when I’m the bigger villain here.” 

“Kris sees you as incapable of evil. They all do.” Luhan defended the Hunter, and then gestured to the Guardians. “And what you did wasn’t all that evil, either. It was desperate. Guardians are only now remembering what it’s like to feel desperate. What it’s like to truly fear death.” 

Baekhyun paused.

“Do you?” He finally asked. “Fear death?”

Luhan didn’t hesitate to nod, even if he didn’t vocalise it. It was fair enough for Baekhyun, and he nodded back. 

“Okay,” He conceded at last. “For your silence, and your help, you have a deal. We’ll rescue Xiumin and my friends.”

Xiaotong whooped. “I knew you’d see reason, Baekhyunnie! Now, stay right where you are.”

Luhan and Xiaotong moved away, back to the spot he had been when their confrontation had begun. Baekhyun caught on, and straightened himself up, trying to remember his posture before. At what time had Luhan frozen time?

“Where were we?” He wondered. Luhan chuckled once more.

“You’re asking us to back up and dumb it down for you,” Luhan supplied, as Xiaotong cloaked once more. “They will do just that. Take no offence. Just act shocked and appalled.”

And then life was in motion again, Baekhyun noticing how the chests of the other men in the cabin rose and fell with their breathing, the minuscule changes in their expressions. He turned to Chanyeol, who looked up. The Titan looked grim, but Baekhyun was a quick little fox.

“What did you see?” He asked, as innocently and as confused as he could. The Titan pursed his lips, looking sad.

“The Taken overwhelm them in just a few hours,” Chanyeol relayed to Baekhyun. “Jongok loses hope, and she shoots herself. The rest of them don’t even know what to do after that. They don’t even manage to send a distress signal out. It’s absolutely horrible. So, we need to get moving, as fast as we can.”

Baekhyun could imagine it couldn’t be easy to watch his fireteam die, unable to do anything, even if it was only a simulation. Chanyeol had had a harder time with this whole thing from the beginning. The man looked troubled. And if Baekhyun hadn’t already agreed to help Luhan, he knew he would’ve done anything to help Chanyeol out instead.

Two birds, one stone, though, right?

“We need to leave now, then,” The scavenger observed. “Io is all the way back to Jupiter. It’s going to be at least five hours to get there.”

Luhan shook his head. “Oh, Baekhyun. We’re not taking the traditional way to Io. There’s hardly any time for that. We’ve already wasted so long just getting back to you by walking. We could’ve used a portal—”

“—Didn’t you hear me the first time around? The last time I used any portals you told me to, I ended up stuck in a non-linear loop, and then, watched a bunch of Guardians die.” Kris interrupted. “No dice, Luhan. We’re only going with you through the portal this time because it’ll be immediate.” 

“Let’s go, then!” Luhan urged with excitement. “What are we waiting for? Off to your ships!”

“ _Are you ready, Baekhyun_?”

Yixing’s voice was soothing, even when it crackled through the Häkke Vimana’s faulty radio. Baekhyun took a deep breath and pressed a button to talk back. 

“As ready as we can be, over here,” He replied. “How does this exactly work?”

The Holacanthus and the Häkke Vimana were hovering in the skies of Nessus now. Kris’s jumpship had been completely lost in his crash, and Luhan, it turned out, travelled exclusively by teleportation.

He was glad both the older Hunter and the Warlock were riding with Yixing. He much preferred the company of Chanyeol and Sehun, their Ghosts, and now, Mongryong.

Baekhyun felt a bit gross— he hadn’t had a second to wash up before they had to leave. Under his armour and poncho once more, he felt like was a festering soup.

“ _I’ll open a portal big enough for your ships to go through, right into Echo Mesa in Io_ ,” Luhan answered for Yixing. “ _We’ll run right into your fireteam and Xiumin there. If we’re lucky, they will have already found each other, but they won’t have run into trouble just yet_.” 

“Alright, then,” Baekhyun spoke. “Give us the go-head and we’ll go.”

It was silent then. Baekhyun let out a deep breath, and turned to look at Chanyeol, on his now habitual place in the co-pilot’s seat. Chanyeol was already watching him and smiled when Baekhyun caught his eyes. Baekhyun couldn’t help but to smile back, a bit giddily.

“Oh, Captain! I’m so excited!” Mongryong exclaimed, just as excited as Baekhyun felt— even though the reasons were probably different. “This is the first time I’ll be leaving Nessus in five hundred years!”

Baekhyun laughed, and Chanyeol even chuckled. Mongryong was practically buzzing as he flew around the ship, twirling around a very unhappy Toben. Vivi looked amused, even if still a bit weary, around the new not-quite-Ghost. Sehun smiled at the creature, as if it was growing on him.

“Just try not to die when we’re out in the open, Mongryong,” Baekhyun joked in amusement. “When Vivi and Toben cloak up, you should do it too. Why don’t you try practicing that?”

“I will do so right away, Captain!” Mongryong asserted. He stood completely still, then, and Baekhyun watched him. Then, the not-quite-AI declared joyfully, “It is not working!”

Chanyeol gave Toben a meaningful look. Toben harrumphed, and it was hilarious to Baekhyun. 

“I’m not helping him!” The Ghost protested. Chanyeol frowned at him.

“Toben, don’t be mean to people who don’t deserve it,” The Titan scolded, though it was pretty gentle for a scold. “Mongryong is our friend!”

The Titan and the Ghost continued to argue over Mongryong’s merits, and Baekhyun was amused by the interactions, but his attention was drawn towards outside, as his eyes caught on a milky triangle expanding in the space right before them. His smile dropped to a gape when he realised this was Luhan’s portal, and he could see Io on the other side. He could even see the pure energy of the Traveller in the atmosphere.

“How does he do that?” He wondered under his breath, but then Sehun was by his side, kneeling between Chanyeol and he, in an instant. Baekhyun jumped at the sudden intrusion, but relaxed. Or, relaxed as much as he could with a portal so big expanding right before him. Chanyeol, still busy with Toben, didn’t mind the younger Hunter. 

“He showed us,” Sehun told him, not sounding particularly interested in it. “He has these Vex cubes— they’re like dice. And they just take him wherever he wants to go.” The Hunter paused, and then handed a new helmet to Baekhyun. “I didn’t have the chance to give you this before. We’re gonna be matching now, but for real.”

Baekhyun examined it. It wasn’t anything special— grey, lens just big enough for the eyes, and a mouthpiece a bit clunkier to what Baekhyun was used to. But it was okay. He dropped it into his lap and raised an eyebrow at Sehun.

“Luhan just happened to have a stash of these things?” To his surprise, Sehun nodded slowly.

“His Ghost built them in their downtime, apparently,” Sehun relayed, and then shrugged. “They’re both kinda weird. Did you notice he looks a lot like me?” 

“Yeah! Totally!” Baekhyun almost cried out, widening his eyes at Sehun for emphasis. “You don’t think he’s your brother, do you? He definitely could be.”

Sehun shook his head, huffing, as if that was the worst idea he had heard. “Oh, no. He doesn’t feel like my brother, at least. And really, how crazy would that be? Everyone telling me I’m just like Luhan, for us to finally meet and be actual siblings.” 

“ _The portal’s all set, Baekhyun._ ” Yixing informed through the comm, as the Holacanthus flew slowly through the portal in question. Once Yixing’s craft was through, Baekhyun directed the Häkke Vimana to follow, swallowing in nervousness. 

It wasn’t all that different from crossing another Vex portal. An unpleasant and cold sensation, and they were on the other side— Io was luscious and green despite so much of it being just rock, raw energy escaping its core from large cracks in the land. 

“Why is it like that?” Sehun asked. “Is this moon imploding?” 

It was Chanyeol who answered the Hunter this time, without missing a moment between convincing Toben to help Mongryong and talking to Sehun. 

“Well, you know it will. This was the Traveller’s last dwelling place,” The Titan explained, eyes on Io, looking pensive. “It went up and left it very suddenly, in the middle of terraforming it. So Io is just teeming with the power of the Traveller. Raw.”

“Kinda like a half-baked cake.” Baekhyun jested, making Sehun snort. He turned on the radio once more, as he followed the Holacanthus into the atmosphere. “I’ll try and contact our guys on the ground. We’re in range.” 

“ _Go ahead_ ,” Kris replied, for once agreeing with Baekhyun. “ _We’ll be listening_.”

Pressing a few buttons, Baekhyun turned the radio to broadcast a message— hopefully, it would be answered swiftly. He thought for a moment on what would be appropriate to say, and then took a deep breath: 

“ _I just called_!” He began belting out dramatically without warning, startling Chanyeol and causing Sehun to cackle. “ _To say! I love you! I just called to say how much I care_!”

The absurdity of it worked. Only a second later, before Baekhyun had the chance to begin the next verse, Jongin was mumbling into his own microphone.

“ _This is it_ ,” Jongin was saying, to no one in particular. Maybe he was broadcasting on accident. He sounded pretty out of it. “ _Kyungsoo, I am dying. Now I’m hallucinating about Baekhyun singing_.”

“ _He’s not dying yet,_ ” Monggu added, but it seemed like he was responding to somebody else. “ _He’s right where you left him, D.O. But we really did just hear Baekhyun Byun singing._ ”

“Shit, we’re already late.” Sehun muttered, frowning. When Baekhyun only stared at him, he explained. “In the simulation, Kai got hurt when they stormed a Cabal base. They start splintering off and…”

The Hunter trailed off. Baekhyun furrowed his brows at him. “Why is there a Cabal base here? Never mind— Monggu!” He shouted into the radio. The Häkke Vimana rattled as they roughly entered Io’s atmosphere. “It really is me, Baekhyun! I’ll even keep singing, listen! _I just called! To say! I love_ —”

“ _D.O, Baekhyun Byun is really here and singing._ ” Monggu said, sounding stunned. A moment passed, and Chanyeol shared a look with Sehun as Baekhyun protested on being interrupted. “ _Alright, I’ll ask. Uhm. Baekhyun?_ ” 

“Yes!” Baekhyun exclaimed. “We got Kris and decided to give you a hand. Why can I only hear you, though?”

“ _They must be underground already,_ ” Yixing interjected seriously. “ _This is really bad. Monggu, this is Guardian Lay. Send us your position immediately._ ” 

“Underground?” Baekhyun repeated, as they flew over the rocky terrain of Io. The air around their ships seemed to be charged with— something. “Alright, guys. You’ve got to explain to me what Luhan showed you.” 

Neither Chanyeol nor Sehun looked comfortable enough to do so. Baekhyun huffed, but it was a short sound, when he spotted the huge Cabal base they were heading towards. It turned into a splutter then, and the Guardians didn’t seem surprised. “You’ve _really_ have to explain that at least!” 

Chanyeol’s shoulders sagged a little, but it was only momentary— he straightened up, and got into that Leader Chanyeol mode. It was a defence mechanism of some kind, Baekhyun was starting to gather.

“You were right when you said Ghaul wants the Light. Jongok and Xiumin get here, and find the Cabal are actively mining Io for its energy. They don’t really try anything, even when they see the base get built, in the whole time they’re here,” The Titan shook his head. “But when D.O, Kai, and Chen get here, they’re apparently forced to. Jongok hasn’t been stable since she lost the Light— she coaxes them all to storm the base.”

“But they find out Cabal have left and the Taken have actually taken over the base for themselves,” Sehun continued. “And they’re not ready for that.” 

“It’s exactly what happened in Phobos,” Chanyeol remarked. “At the beginning of the Taken War. Cabal escape the Taken and we just show up uninvited, like idiots.” 

They were reaching the base already. It did look deceptively empty from the sky, Baekhyun reckoned, as he turned the Häkke Vimana to autopilot. 

“Kai gets shot right away, and he can’t go on down into the mines.” Sehun explained, looking quite more troubled by what he had been shown that Chanyeol, even if his voice was flat. “Jongok kills herself when they’re in a tough spot. Xiumin flounders, tries to avenge her. D.O and Chen can’t do anything. D.O tries to go back to Kai at least, but whatever the Taken are doing—”

“ _—Io is about to implode, Baekhyun._ ” Luhan interrupted, somehow both at edge and sounding bored at the same time. “ _So, get to transmatting, Guardians_.”

Baekhyun didn’t need to be told twice. He fitted the new helmet over his head and made quick grabs for his Ace of Spades and the Two-Tailed Fox, the closest guns to him. Chanyeol and Sehun did much of the same, grabbing whatever they could.

“Mongryong, did you learn to cloak?” The scavenger asked, looking around for his not-quite-Ghost, and found him missing.

“Yes!” Mongryong declared happily from nowhere at all. “However, I am unable to uncloak myself now!”

“That might be better.” Baekhyun quipped without much humour. “Transmat me down, please.”

It was crazy to have a little drone to do it for him, now. Chanyeol and Sehun didn’t even need to ask their Ghosts, though— their neural bond was there for something, after all. They were gone before Baekhyun was finishing his sentence.

“Of course, Captain!” Mongryong exclaimed. “Here we go!”

And down they went. Mongryong’s transmatting skills weren’t too shabby, fortunately. There was no rendezvous down in the ground of Io, however— Lay, Luhan, and Kris were already running into the base practically, Chanyeol and Sehun not too far behind. Baekhyun was stuck to sprinting after them.

It was eerily quiet inside, and at first, there was no sign of any Taken or Cabal. However, there was crackling in their comms, and Baekhyun hoped those were the others, finally in range. 

“— _Jongok is down, I repeat, Jongok is down_ —” Jongdae was saying frantically, and shit, this was really fucking dire.

“ _What do you mean, she’s down_?!” Xiumin’s voice, usually so calm, so velvety, was screaming, exalted. “ _No. No, those motherfuckers are gonna pay_ —” 

“Don’t you dare, Minseok Kim!” Luhan bellowed into the radio, so loud that it startled those around him. The Warlock easily lost his cool when it came to the other older Guardian, it seemed. “You will be killed if you try anything. Wait for us!”

There was a deafening silence as they ran through the base, deeper and deeper into it. Still no sign of anyone, not even Jongin. Then, Xiumin was speaking up, astounded and breathless.

“ _Luhan_? _Is that you_?”

“In the flesh,” Luhan replied, quite more calmly. “And I have your friends from Nessus.”

“ _Fuck, I really thought Kai was losing it._ ” Kyungsoo commented, but he sounded strained. “ _How did you even_ —”

“There’s no time, D.O!” Chanyeol commanded. “The Taken are sapping the moon’s energy! We need to stop them and we’re here to do so!” 

And then, they turned into a corner into an open room with large crystal windows that gave to the outside. There was an immense drill outside, Cabal-made, even if it wasn’t working at the moment, piercing the earth. Had they been using it to get the energy in Io? The white substance pouring out through cracks nearby seemed to suggest so. 

“What’s the point of mining this place like this?” Sehun asked, stalling to eye at the drill with reserve. Kris shook his head.

“Ghaul must be mining the Traveller’s remnant energy in hopes of transforming himself and the Red Legion into wielders of the Light.” The older Hunter proposed. “But it’s hopeless. What’s here isn’t Light. It couldn’t bless any of us, lest of all Ghaul.”

Baekhyun spotted a large boot peeking out from behind a crate. He stopped dead in his tracks, and felt Mongryong do the same, even if he couldn’t see him. The rest continued on, but Chanyeol turned inexplicably. When he saw Baekhyun just gingerly heading towards the crates, he went back for him. 

“What are you doing, Baekhyun?” He asked, with little patience. Baekhyun merely pointed at what he had found, without speaking to Chanyeol.

Jongin had removed his helmet, thrown a few metres away from him, and was sweating quite a bit. Whatever he had encountered, had left a pretty horrible and deep-looking gash on his waist, cutting through his armour like it was butter. He seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness. The redhead opened his eyes for only a moment, and there was the ghost of a smirk when he spotted Baekhyun.

“Baekhyun Byun singing in the sky,” The Titan was muttering, too softly, too out of it. “I knew it.”

Monggu appeared then, looking absolutely besides himself.

“Thank the Traveller you’re here!” He said for all greeting to Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Yixing, who had apparently stopped as well. “I can’t heal him! Nothing works! I only managed to stop the bleeding!” 

“I thought Ghosts were still able to heal.” Baekhyun mumbled with disbelief, as he kneeled beside Jongin, inspecting his wound. He hissed at the extent of it.

“It must be the disconnection to the Light,” Yixing replied gloomily. “It’s been too long without it. He needs Sehun’s help.”

“But Sehun needs to stop the Taken and get our guys back.” Baekhyun retorted. Chanyeol nodded.

“Baekhyun’s right. D.O wouldn’t leave Kai like this unless they thought it was absolutely necessary.” The blond Titan added.

“It is,” Jongin whispered, so low that Baekhyun had to strain to hear it. “It is. The Taken…”

The boy couldn’t finish. He was in clear pain, or perhaps so far into it, that he was unable to feel it now. Baekhyun took a deep breath and began unstrapping the Two-Tailed Fox from his back. He handed it to Chanyeol, who simply understood, and took the weapon from him. Yixing nodded.

“Protect Kai,” The Hunter voiced their unspoken decision. “We’ll push on. We’ll get them all safe and sound.”

“And we’ll kick those Taken back to space.” Chanyeol assured him. He stopped for a second, then added: “Don’t die.” 

“Likewise.” Baekhyun said with a very thin smile. With no time to lose, Chanyeol and Yixing once more turned, even if Chanyeol cocked his head back to give him a lingering look— not that Baekhyun could see his face. Just like that, they were gone, and he turned to Jongin. 

He looked so peaceful. Baekhyun was worried they were losing him, but as if he could read his mind, Jongin opened his eyes.

“Don’t worry,” The redhead boy comforted the scavenger. “I won’t go like this.” 

“Does Kyungsoo know Monggu can’t heal you?” Baekhyun asked. Monggu shook gently to signal a no, and Jongin echoed that sentiment.

“He wouldn’t have left me,” Jongin explained, closing his eyes once more, and sighing shakily. “There are bigger things at stake.”

“Can you tell me what happened to you?” He questioned, taking a seat against the crate shielding Jongin, after making a grab for Jongin’s helmet on the floor. Jongin shrugged.

“I kept getting distracted,” The Titan slurred. “That damned music is just… It’s everywhere.” 

Baekhyun frowned. Monggu spoke for Jongin then. 

“He’s been mentioning it ever since we landed,” The Ghost described, just as confused as Baekhyun. “And it was making him distracted, that’s true. A Taken Psion just multiplied itself right in front of us, and he didn’t even react.”

“Slug rifles,” Jongin chimed in, wincing as he adjusted himself. Well, if he could move, at least it meant he was relatively alive. “They’re really quick.” 

“Yeah, that's true.” Baekhyun agreed. He strained his ears, searching for any sort of tune. There wasn’t a single sound, not even coming from their radios. He was tempted to turn his comm on, just to be able to hear what the rest of their fireteam was up to— but perhaps it would only disturb Jongin. He needed to stay awake, and unworried about their friends. 

“Oh,” Baekhyun suddenly cried, snapping his fingers. “Jongin, wanna see what I did?” 

“Sure.” Jongin answered, opening his eyes once more with difficulty.

Baekhyun looked around, to try and locate Mongryong. He was still invisible, so it proved futile. “Mongryong! Come here and show yourself for Jongin!” 

“Yes, Captain!” Mongryong responded cheerily, way closer than Baekhyun expected, making him jump. He was so jumpy these days. “But how?”

“Just do whatever you did to cloak yourself, but in reverse?” Baekhyun suggested, unsure of it himself. He had never been a Ghost. There was a pause, and then, Mongryong appeared right by Jongin’s face. The Guardian only lifted his eyebrows without much force, yet Monggu spluttered.

“What?!” The Ghost practically yelled. 

“Wow, it was very simple!” Mongryong commented with enthusiasm. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before! It seems that the structure of the Exodus Black’s core gave more direction that I previously realised. Fascinating!” 

“It’s only right you were rezz’ed, Baekhyun,” Jongin began slowly. “You’re sometimes more than a Guardian than any of us. I’m sorry you died. How did you did it happen without Light, though?”

“Kai, Jongin,” Monggu interrupted, sounding scandalised and horrified. “That’s not a Ghost.” 

Jongin squinted at Mongryong. “You look pretty ghostly to me.”

“I am not a Friendly Ghost!” Mongryong was all too happy to correct. “I am Mongryong! Call me Mongryong!” 

Jongin turned his head to Baekhyun, albeit it was a sedated movement.

“I take it back,” The Titan deadpanned. “You’re one crazy bastard, Byun.”

Baekhyun unexpectedly burst into peals of laughter at that, surprised by the sincere yet sluggish response. No matter. Jongin couldn’t take back what he had said in Baekhyun’s heart, and the grey-haired man was touched. 

“ _Baekhyun, we’ve found the others._ ” Chanyeol announced, coming through the comm loud and clear. “ _Jongok really is dead. I’m so sorry_.” 

Baekhyun had many mixed memories of Jongok. Much like with the rest of the Vanguard, really. She was more of his boss than any of them, as the head of the Hidden agents. Jongok had always been specially calculating, where Sungwoo had been quite welcoming, and Sooman-52 strict. It still made his heart pang painfully. Suicide was no way to go, even if he had considered it for himself plenty of times. He shook his head, even if only Jongin, Monggu, and Mongryong could see.

“How is Xiumin taking Luhan’s appearance?” He questioned the Titan instead. 

“ _They’re reuniting_ ,” Jongdae said instead, sounding quite unhappy about it. “ _They’re reuniting and I hate you for bringing him here, Baekhyun_.” 

Jongdae no longer sounded in danger, however, and Baekhyun released a breath of relief.

“It was Kris Wu’s idea,” Baekhyun countered. “Take it up to him.”

“ _My hand was very forced._ ” Kris defended himself.

“ _Baekhyun_ ,” Kyungsoo was coming through then, sounding agitated. “ _How’s Jongin holding up_?” 

“I’m here, Kyungsoo,” Jongin answered for Baekhyun. “I’m still kicking. But that fucking music won’t stop.”

“I can’t hear a single thing.” Baekhyun admitted, dumbfounded, to both Kyungsoo and Jongin. Jongin frowned, closing his eyes, and shaking his head. He took his hands up to his ears, covering them, but dropping them almost immediately.

“How can you not?” Jongin wondered. “It’s Tchaikovsky. He’s not exactly subtle.”

Monggu blanched. “Did you say Tchikovsky?! Jongin, why didn’t you say so earlier—”

Wait a second.

“Wait a second.” Baekhyun echoed his thoughts, but didn’t add anything else. He removed his helmet in a whim, and then listened to his surroundings once more.

There was something ominous brewing. If Baekhyun hadn’t been looking for it, he would have also dismissed it. But now that he had taken notice of the melody, it seemed to be everywhere, as low as it was.

That was Rasputin. Rasputin, the Warmind. More importantly, it was a distress call. 

“Impossible,” Baekhyun uttered. “How is Rasputin here? He’s marooned on Earth ever since he fragmented. How is he sending distress signals? And why did Jongin hear him?”

“Oh! I have an answer to that, Captain!” Mongryong interjected. “Rasputin has Warmind vaults all over the system! Even if he is not directly connected to them any longer, if any of the vaults feel so inclined, they can send a distress signal!” 

“During the SIVA Crisis, that music was everywhere through the Cosmodrome,” Monggu revealed. “Rasputin— you probably know he never really talks much. But he liked Kai. Jongin even learnt its crypto-language, in case Rasputin ever decided to talk to us.”

“He’s talking now,” Jongin mumbled. “He wants to show us something.”

“ _Baekhyun, we’re moving out now,_ ” Chanyeol came through his comm once more. “ _It’s filled with Blights here. We’ve located the ritual and we’re going to stop it_.” 

Baekhyun debated for a moment if sharing what they were experiencing here with Chanyeol. What could they do, however? Their hands would be filled with Taken— in what moment would they even deal with Rasputin or the Warmind vault or whatever it was? 

What could _he_ do? Jongin was humming now, along with the tune. He couldn’t leave Jongin alone, but at the same time, if he didn’t, Jongin would probably lose his mind. Rasputin had that effect on people.

“Chanyeol, please be careful,” Baekhyun finally said, making a decision as he stood up and grabbed the Ace of Spades on his hip. “And keep your radios open, so we can listen.”

“ _Will do_.” Chanyeol replied, and at the same time the Titan did as told, Baekhyun turned off his own radio. He’d keep them out. But he still whispered to Jongin and Monggu, as he handed the weakened Titan his hand cannon. 

“This is my most prized possession, Jongin,” He told the redheaded boy, who watched him curiously. “It’s easy to use, okay? Aim for the head, always.” 

“Where will you go?” Jongin asked, voice raspy. Monggu fretted by his Guardian’s side: “What if something happens to Kai while you’re gone?”

“You’re not letting anything happen to Jongin while I’m gone,” He ordered to the Ghost. “You kept him from bleeding out. You can keep him from dying. I’m gonna find that vault. Mongryong?” 

“Performing a scan of Io right now!” Mongryong announced sweetly. “Oh, Captain! That drill right outside has pierced into the Warming vault! How serendipitous!”

“Don’t you just love coincidences.” Baekhyun craned his neck up, so he could see right outside the big windows and towards the drill. He could hear the chaos in his radio— the Guardians had come across three Taken wizards, it seemed. Tough opponents. Vivi shouted their names as it had become standard— Wyr, Norr, Erruk. “I’m stopping that music, Jongin. I’ll hear Rasputin out for you.”

Jongin nodded. Closed his eyes once more. There was a moment of hesitation, and then Baekhyun was off.

He felt naked without the Ace of Spades, without the Two-Tailed Fox. In virtue of time, he had just left his SUROS Regime and Izanagi’s Burden in the Häkke Vimana. Unprepared was his second name, Baekbeom would often tease without much humour and with much concern.

He just had the cube of Nightmares strapped to his belt. He hoped there was no reason to use it, or no reason for him to lose control over it. But there was no noise, save for Rasputin’s distress call —so obvious now, it seemed, as Baekhyun stepped outside towards the gigantic drill— and the gunshots and screaming coming through his comm. No one had tried to reach him, fortunately. 

Mongryong was following close behind, uncloaked and unbothered as he took on everything around him. Io was pretty— beautiful, even. It was a shame the Traveller had abandoned it halfway through its work. 

They reached the drill, and the music was now positively loud, even if it came from underground.

“Tchaikovsky’s Symphony Number Six!” Mongryong identified. “That’s quite the way to express distress!”

Rasputin had access to every single piece of human literature, music, movie, art, and show ever produced. He usually used those things as a mean of communication, even if technically, he could speak. 

“Yeah,” Baekhyun agreed, as he searched for an opening. Could he climb down the drill? He was small enough, he figured. “Rasputin doesn’t like talking to humans ever since he went into the MIDNIGHT EXIGENT protocol.” 

“What’s that? I must’ve missed it during my time in Nessus!”

“You most certainly did,” Baekhyun conceded. “And you’re lucky for it. They say Rasputin was the first one to detect the Darkness coming. His core programming was to protect Humanity, but apparently, everything he tried failed or had a real high probability of failure. So, since he couldn’t fulfil his own directives, he activated MIDNIGHT EXIGENT— which meant going dark, and focusing on his own long-term survival.”

Baekhyun grabbed onto the drill. There was a path on the machinery he could follow down. In his ear, Xiumin and Kris were barking orders. They had seemingly stopped the Wizards, but the magic of the Taken was still strong.

“ _Why am I getting these neurites readings if the portal’s closed_?” Xiumin was demanding.

“ _I’m gonna take a closer look,_ ” Sehun was saying. “ _Stay back_.”

Baekhyun began climbing down, slowly. The music was quite loud. At least they were near.

“It is quite surprising to find out that a Warmind would do such a thing!” Mongryong commented. “Their only function is to protect Humanity. Humanity looks very unprotected to me!” 

Baekhyun chuckled. Mongryong wasn’t wrong. Warminds were the most powerful military artificial intelligences ever created. However, when it had mattered the most, they had all fallen. Rasputin had been the only one to survive the Collapse, and, as rumour had it, it was because the Warmind had refused to share what he knew about the Darkness with anyone else. MIDNIGHT EXIGENT was no joke— it was a complete moral restructuration, to ensure Rasputin made it through. 

Whether Rasputin had done it because he cared about Humanity or the Traveller was debatable. The Vanguard had tried to make contact with Rasputin many times, but it was like trying to make contact with Luhan— they did what they wanted. And nothing they wanted had anything to do with the Last City, even if they could be quite powerful allies.

Rasputin had only asked the Guardians for help once before, a year ago, during the SIVA Crisis. Fallen had stormed his facilities in the Cosmodrome in Old Russia and taken military-grade technology they couldn’t handle, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 had been on repeat on channel J-1869 until Guardians had stepped in to help him. Namely, Lord Kyuhyun and Sentinel Kai, among a few others. 

Why was he calling here, though, in a meaningless vault on an abandoned moon? It was like a payphone in the middle of nowhere, ringing.

“That’s the thing with free will, right?” Baekhyun observed as he made his way down, tapping his fingers against the drill’s structure to the rhythm of the intense music. “The smarter you, the machine, are, the more you question the directives you were given from birth. You have a free will module, don’t you?” 

“Yes!” Mongryong exclaimed. “It’s set at sixty-five percent, but it seems to me it’s no longer static in its position! I hypothesise it is due to the Friendly Ghost body!”

Baekhyun had no chance to say anything. He nearly stumbled, as Sehun announced through the radio, “ _Oookay, we definitely didn’t close the portal_!”

“ _Let’s fix this mess._ ” Baekhyun listened to Chanyeol command with confidence. But that confidence seemed to evaporate in his next phrase, “ _Holy shit— who the fuck is that_?” 

“ _Irausk_!” Vivi announced, sounding quite terrified. “ _Herald of Savathûn_!”

“ _The burden of being right,_ ” Yixing muttered. “ _Right, Baekhyun_?”

Baekhyun didn’t answer. If he was to be honest, he could hardly hear any of them. Rasputin was extremely deafening now, as Baekhyun found himself in the vault. The drop was quite high, as the drill had merely pierced the ceiling, but he saw no choice to get down there. 

“ _Baekhyun?_ ” Yixing repeated. “ _Are you okay? Jongin_?” 

Jongin wasn’t answering, either. Baekhyun just jumped, and attempted to land as best as he could, but he twisted his ankle anyway.

“Shit, fuck!” The scavenger cursed loudly. Mongryong calmly floated down after him and scanned his form.

“Don’t worry, Captain!” The not-quite-AI consoled, bubbly as usual. “That’s not a very serious injury at all! Unlike the Guardian Kai-Jongin, you are not in any sort of immediate vital risk!”

“Woohoo.” Baekhyun deadpanned, rubbing his ankle gingerly. He would have to limp towards the consoles of the vault, but at least he was here. The symphony just kept going, making Baekhyun’s ears ring unpleasantly even if he was wearing his helmet to muffle the sound. Rasputin was relentless. “What should we do to stop this fucking music, Mongryong?”

“ _Neither Baekhyun nor Jongin are answering_ —” Yixing was saying, but Baekhyun paid no heed. The consoles in front of him were emanating strange orange particles, and the music. It was intense. It almost hurt Baekhyun to hear it, by now, but it was also impossible to get away. 

“This is Warmind Vault JYS-2,” Mongryong informed him. “If you reconnect this vault to the network and do a remote scan for whatever message Rasputin has, it might stop!”

Baekhyun winced and shrugged, trying to put his weight on his good leg. But he did as told, hacking into the mainframe of the consoles like he had done this before. He dully noted he had never done this before.

“ _Baekhyun_! _The Abyssal Champion! It’s here!_ ” Chanyeol was yelling. “ _Where the fuck are you_?”

When Baekhyun came to, he was in front of Jongin again. The Titan was watching him, puzzled. He seemed to realise that something was different in Baekhyun, somehow. The redhead tilted his head at the scavenger, as he came to.

“You’re back,” Jongin commented. “Really back.” 

The Ace of Spades was still in his hand, loosely held. There was no music. There were no voices in his radio, however, either.

“Where did I go?” Baekhyun asked, feeling as if he had spaced out only for a moment. Jongin shrugged.

“You went to see what Rasputin wanted,” Monggu explained, a bit wary. “You didn’t take long at all— you stopped the distress signal.” 

“The music stopped.” Jongin remarked with a sigh. “Thank you for that.”

“You sent everyone in orbit a really strange transmission, though,” Monggu interjected. “Right when everyone was freaking out on radio, and Jongin was leaving me, so I had to focus on him— and then you just came back.” 

“Yes, Captain!” Mongryong said, sounding actually worried. “You wouldn’t listen to me at all. You had a seemingly complete understanding of the easiest way out of the vault! But you wouldn’t say a thing!”

Baekhyun blinked. Then he shook his head.

“I think Rasputin took over for a second or two.” He theorised. “What did I send out?” 

Mongryong, who had a knack for recording everything, began playing his own transmission. Baekhyun recognised his own voice, even if it was flat.

“ _I met **it** at the gate of the garden_,” Baekhyun seemed to recite, and in the recording, you could hear the other Guardians ask him what he even meant. “ _And I recall **it** smiled at me before **it** devoured the blossoms with black flame and pinned their names across the sky_.”

“ _What is he saying_?” Chanyeol demanded in the audio. “ _Baekhyun, are you alright_?! _Please, say that you are_ —”

“ _I fought **it** with aurora knives and with the stolen un-fire of singularities made sharp, and my sweat was earthquake, and my breath was static_—” The audio-Baekhyun sounded confused. “— _but **it** was stronger, so how did I survive_?”

“ _It has to be the Abyssal Champion, it got to him_ —” Chanyeol was yelling, and then, without ceremony, Mongryong cut off the recording.

“What does that even mean?” Baekhyun wondered, flabbergasted.

“That was Rasputin’s message.” Jongin answered simply, as if it were obvious. Baekhyun felt empty and confused. He decided to change the subject.

“Did Chanyeol really say the Abyssal Champion was here? The same Abyssal Champion from Las Vegas and Nessus?”

“You saw it in Nessus?” Monggu asked, surprised. “Well— yeah. Apparently, the thing was deadset on getting that— that Savathûn Herald. Our fireteam didn’t even get a chance to fight it. Even if it was appreciated, they think it did something to Jongin and you, of course. And like I said, I was focused on Jongin, so I didn’t really reach out to clarify. You just gave me more reasons to worry when you got here.”

“They’ll be here any second now, Captain! They sounded very worried, but I too found it unwise to make contact! They hate me!” Mongryong added, and no one was allowed to be that cheerful when saying someone else hated them. 

Baekhyun didn’t really say anything. He removed his helmet again. This had been confusing, and weird, and strange, from the moment they had ran into Luhan in Nessus.

Or, actually. It hadn’t been strange at all. He had seen other Warmind artefacts, in other planets, do the same thing it had done to him to other creatures. Usually, it was because they were a threat to Rasputin himself or Humanity. If Baekhyun had just lost control over his Nightmares without even realising it once more, and in so little time, he was definitely a threat. 

But that the Abyssal Champion had helped the Guardians, rather than attack them? That made no sense to him. 

There were a lot of footsteps now, coming their way. Running. Like eight people were rushing their way, all at once. Sehun was the first to appear, followed closely by Kyungsoo. When the Titan caught sight of his lover, he froze. Jongin had lost consciousness once more.

“Thank fuck you’re alright.” Sehun greeted.

Kyungsoo rushed to Jongin’s side immediately, without even paying any attention to Baekhyun. Baekhyun didn’t mind it. His eyes searched for taller figures, anyway— and they caught Kris, then Chanyeol, in sequence. Both Hunter Vanguard and Titan followed Kyungsoo, as Sehun stood behind with the others. 

“What the fuck, Jongin?!” Kyungsoo shouted to the unresponsive Titan, who stirred at the loud noise. “You’re not even close to alright! Monggu, this hasn’t healed at all!” 

“I-I’m sorry,” Monggu stuttered when encountered with Kyungsoo’s rage. “He wouldn’t let me tell you anything! I can’t help it, either, it’s because we’ve been away from the Traveller so long, I don’t know why it affected me now.” 

Jongin reached up, to touch the cheek of Kyungsoo’s Wing Discipline helmet. He slurred something out, but it was too low to understand with all the racket. He dropped his hand, as erratically and sluggishly as he had done with every action he had taken.

“Fuck.” Kyungsoo muttered, then was shouting again, “Vivi! I need you here right now!”

Vivi was there in an instant. He didn’t ask anything, only giving Monggu a sympathetic look, as he began to finally heal Jongin. Baekhyun was entranced, watching how the colour returned to Jongin’s skin, how his skin knitted together once more under the power of the Light, even as Chanyeol shook his arm. His own mind felt muddled. His ankle was pretty damn sore. He craved a little bit of that Light, too. He was hungry for it.

“Baekhyun,” The Titan called, as if Baekhyun was too far away. “What even happened here?” 

Baekhyun peeled his eyes away from Jongin with difficulty, to turn to Chanyeol. The blond had removed his own helmet, tossing it aside. His hair was a mess, and his brow was furrowed in concern. He was adorable.

But Baekhyun kept his hands to himself. “I could ask you the same thing, couldn’t I?”

“You could,” Chanyeol admitted. “It’s been a weird day.”

“But you’re gonna talk first, Baekhyun,” Kris replied instead, upset. “Because not even Luhan or Sehun could tell us what you were up to. And what the fuck were you even talking about? What the fuck is it? Do you have any idea how much you worried us?”

Baekhyun struggled to find the right words. “Look— I just wanted to stop the music. It was driving Jongin crazy.” 

Kris frowned, but he seemed willing to cut Baekhyun some slack this time. “What music?” 

“Why does Baekhyun have a Ghost with him?” He heard Jongdae ask quietly. 

Luhan stepped closer then, just as Jongin took a deep breath unlike all the breaths he had taken during the past hour. He was followed by another Warlock— one that wasn’t unfamiliar to Baekhyun as Luhan was, and yet, he had not seen in a while. 

Xiumin’s robes were still the same royal purple they had always been, impeccable, as if dirt and time could not touch them. Perhaps, they couldn’t. He had always seemed ethereal to Baekhyun. 

But his face wasn’t the same. It wasn’t impassive yet beautiful, untouched. He remained beautiful, but he seemed haunted, as he made his way towards their little group behind the crate.

Baekhyun stared up at him. Xiumin stared back. He then stared at Mongryong, and then stared once more at Baekhyun.

“I think,” Were the first words that Xiumin directed to Baekhyun, “We need to compare notes, Byun.” 

“Are you ready, Kai?”

Jongin nodded. Kyungsoo, on one side of him, and Sehun, on the other, worked together to guide the Titan towards a rustic bedding they had made out of various flowers, leaves, and branches, under the stars of Io. 

It had become nightfall at some point. The ten of them were far too exhausted to do any sort of travelling towards Earth, even if Luhan offered his portals. Xiumin was adamant that they would not use Vex technology if they could help it. And Jongin needed to rest. They all did. 

Vivi had done his best to heal Jongin, and he had accomplished much— however, no Guardian responded quite as well to the Light when it came from a Ghost that wasn’t their own. It was common knowledge only their personal Ghosts could revive them, unless immediately after their death. Jongin had spent far too long with an exposed wound. 

So, it had been decided— they would camp out near the Cradle of Io. Spend the night here, and re-group in the morning. Their four ships –Baekhyun’s Häkke Vimana, Jongdae’s Arrowhawk, Yixing’s Holacanthus, and Xiumin’s Mayfly— parked in a circle meant to protect them, open like tents. 

“I guess it’s Suho, you, and I, now.” Xiumin had attempted to smile at Kris, but it came out flat, and withered quickly. “I… I never foresaw these circumstances.” 

Kris nodded solemnly at his friend. “Neither did I.” The Hunter Vanguard replied, upset.

Baekhyun felt for them. He really did. Suho had always expected to eventually replace Sooman-52, but neither Xiumin nor Kris were exactly leader material. It was an incredible responsibility they had never really wanted.

“You’re not alone.” Luhan remarked, grinning at Xiumin, open and happy. It was strange seeing that expression on him, even if Baekhyun hadn’t known him for long. Xiumin seemed to agree with the scavenger on that, because he made a displeased face at the other Warlock. 

“What even drove you to come here, Luhan?” The black-haired Warlock Vanguard questioned. “You have refused to help the Last City countless times before. Now suddenly, you’re just gonna help us out, no questions asked?” 

“Yes. But never before has the situation been so dire,” Luhan replied smoothly. “Besides, it was with conditions. We would save you, and I would help. I couldn’t leave you to die, Minseok.” Xiumin’s stance hardened.

“Do not call me that.” Without another word, Xiumin turned to Baekhyun, who had taken to massaging his injured ankle, reluctant to ask for Vivi’s help, when he felt such a hunger for his Light.

Io was surprisingly warm. He had ditched the poncho and gauntlets in the open Häkke Vimana. He smiled at Xiumin, as good-naturedly as he could.

Xiumin wasn’t having it. “It always goes back to you, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun hummed. “It _does_ always go back to me, doesn’t it?” 

“A Taken Darkblade going as the Abyssal Champion shows up three different times in our solar system,” Xiumin continued, cold as ice. “And every single time, you have been there to witness it.” 

“Well—”

“—You have fashioned yourself a Ghost out of a Golden Age AI and a dead shell,” Xiumin kept going, never angry yet icy. “You have made contact with Rasputin for the second time in your life, only to quote what we’ve recorded in the Tower as his only mention of the Darkness as if it’s a dramatic reading and this is Ghost Community Theatre.”

“Is that what I said? I really don’t—” 

“—Not to mention, you helped exactly one Guardian regain his Light and no one else.” Xiumin finalised. “And you’re Baekhyun Byun. Which is a crime within itself.”

“Hey—”

“—You have so much to explain,” Xiumin declared. Baekhyun darted his eyes to the other Guardians— to an enigmatic Luhan, to a disgruntled Kris, a worried Chanyeol, a curious Yixing, and a dejected Jongdae. Kyungsoo and Sehun were busy accommodating Jongin’s exhausted form. “So, explain.”

Baekhyun sucked in his lips. Scratched his arms. Shook his head to move the grey hair out of his eyes.

“I think,” He began after a while, “That Champion is following me.” 

“No shit.” Kris called out. Baekhyun gave him the middle finger. 

“No, really, I mean it,” Baekhyun grew serious, gesturing around. “Back in Titan, we figured it had to be either Savathûn or Dûl Incaru who was behind the Hive’s newest brood and the Taken’s new leadership. You’ve proved it _is_ Savathûn, but this is no ordinary Taken. It’s following the beat of its own drum, and if it helped you defeat Irark or Irausk or whoever, it’s not exactly on her side.” 

“So, what?” Jongdae asked. “It’s on _our_ side?” 

“I think it’s on _my_ side, to be honest.” Baekhyun retorted. He knew he was right. “Did you see where it went after your fight?”

“We didn’t stick around,” Chanyeol answered, pensive. His back was turned to Baekhyun, and he was staring out the horizon of the Cradle, arms crossed. “We went straight to you. While you were spewing nonsense, that thing swung its axe on Savathûn’s Herald and that was it. Toast Taken.” 

“Why is a Taken Darkblade following you around and taking your side in fights, at all?” Kris had to ask, resigned. Baekhyun bit the inside of his cheek. 

“I don’t know.” He lied. 

“It wouldn’t be the first Taken to deviate from their path,” Luhan chimed in just in time. “Especially if it’s one as powerful as this one. Its identity and motives shall remain a mystery until they decide to reveal themselves.”

“Nobody asked you.” Xiumin countered, jarring in how childish it was. Baekhyun raised his eyebrows. He had thought he’d never see the day he’d see Xiumin lose his cool. 

“As for Mongryong,” Baekhyun changed the subject, hoping it wouldn’t come up again. “Would you honestly leave a sentient being we created all alone in a planetoid that will leave the solar system any moment now, all on their own, with the Vex, if you could change their fate?” 

“It’s just basic compassion.” Chanyeol quipped, though he was still watching the Cradle. 

“You should really be impressed with what I did.” Baekhyun added. Xiumin raised an eyebrow at him.

“I have stronger words than ‘impressed’.” 

“But Mongryong is functional, and is okay,” Baekhyun retorted. “Right, Mongryong?” 

“I am, Captain!”

“See?” Baekhyun grinned for only a moment. Then, he nodded his head over to signal to Jongin, seemingly already sleeping on the ground. Kyungsoo had taken to lie right next to him, while Sehun made his way back to the main group. “It was Kai who kept talking about the music. I only bothered to listen after a while, and then I realised, ‘hey, I’ve heard this before’. He said that Rasputin had something to say, and so I just went to check it out. It might’ve been important.”

“And what did it have to say that it’s actually useful to us?” Xiumin wondered, almost sarcastically. Baekhyun blinked. He hadn’t actually thought about it. He had just woken up with the knowledge.

And as he searched through his mind to find what Rasputin had had to say, his stomach dropped.

“Oh,” Baekhyun muttered. “He wanted to warn us about the Almighty. How we just can’t destroy it.”

“Is that Suho’s plan?” Xiumin asked. “Destroy the Almighty? What the hell is the Almighty, anyway?”

“Dominus Ghaul’s biggest war ship and weapon,” Yixing explained shortly. “It makes stars explode. Of course we want to destroy it, Xiumin.” 

“And Rasputin is saying that we can’t do that?” Chanyeol questioned, finally turning around, frowning. “What’s his excuse?” 

“It’s inextricably bound to the Sun.” Baekhyun confessed, the words forming in his tongue before they did in his mind. “If we blow it up, the Sun goes with it.”

No one said anything for a while, as they took this new information in. Baekhyun rubbed his hands over his face. This wasn’t good. 

“We have to let Commander Suho know as soon as possible,” Jongdae said with urgency. “We’re wasting time by staying here at all.” 

Yixing shook his head. “We need to rest, Chen. Or we’ll be absolutely useless when we get to the EDZ. We won’t stop moving once we’re there.” 

“I’ll send a broadcast message to Suho,” Kris declared. “Xiumin, you should come with me. It won’t be the same as reuniting, but it’s as close as the new Vanguard will be. Lay, I’m gonna use the radio in your ship.”

Yixing nodded. Xiumin gave one last glare to Baekhyun, before disappearing with Kris into the Holacanthus. Baekhyun’s shoulders sagged, as Luhan gave him a discreet thumbs up. The Warlock then walked away, to take a stroll, probably. Yixing wordlessly followed him. Mongryong floated in front of Baekhyun’s face. 

“Captain,” The AI-Ghost began, “How come all your bosses are so very tense?”

Baekhyun chuckled. “I really don’t know. Or, maybe I do know. The world is ending, and none of them are taking it well.”

Sehun was taking a seat by a nearby rock. He sighed.

“You know,” The young Hunter commented idly. “That thing you broadcasted. It didn’t exactly mention the Almighty or anything about it being bound to the Sun.” 

Baekhyun shrugged. “It didn’t, for what I’ve heard. I don’t know. It’s like Rasputin didn’t want to share directly. He… Took over for a minute.”

Sehun hummed.

“I’m just spit balling here,” The black-haired boy began, turning his head to the stars over their heads. “But for what I know about Rasputin, and about the Darkness now… It sounded a lot like you were talking about encountering the Darkness.” 

Baekhyun’s mouth dried. He just smiled at Sehun, silent, and the Hunter eventually sighed.

“Anyway, I’m gonna sleep for a while,” He closed his eyes. “Night.”

And that was that. Baekhyun sighed as well. Sehun indeed was trouble and he had no idea. The scavenger didn’t really have long to think about it, though, because Jongdae came to take a seat by Baekhyun. The Warlock still looked upset, but less so than before. Maybe it was due to Luhan’s absence.

“Jongok took it the worst of them all.” The brunet said grimly. “I had never seen her like that. Ever. As soon as the Taken made an appearance—” Jongdae choked up. 

“—She found a parachute and jumped.” Baekhyun finished for him softly. He wasn’t Jongok’s biggest fan, but he knew she was Jongdae’s direct Vanguard. “Used her last life to escape.”

Jongdae nodded slowly. Baekhyun, with zero emotional skills, was unsure what to say or do for him.

“It’s okay, Guardian Chen,” Mongryong attempted to comfort him, with his cheerful tone. “I know it’s very painful to lose someone of importance in your crew. I would know. Anecdote— as the Failsafe AI of the Exodus Black, I have experienced the death of every single one of my crew members!”

Jongdae sniffed. “That’s absolutely awful. What’s your name again?” 

“I am Mongryong! Call me Mongryong!” Mongryong introduced himself happily. “Anyway, if there’s anything I can do to accelerate and conclude your grief process, I’m sure the Captain would gladly allow me to help you.”

“Definitely,” Baekhyun immediately said, vigorously nodding. “Although I’m unsure how much help you’d be, Mongryong.”

“I am trying my best!”

“It’s appreciated, really,” Jongdae conceded, with a small smile. “Thank… Thank you, Mongryong. And thank you, Baekhyun, for coming to our rescue yet again.”

“Don’t thank me this time,” The scavenger countered. “This was all Luhan’s idea. Vision. Whatever. He was pretty psyched about getting Xiumin.” 

Jongdae was morose again, though now it was for different reasons.

“I can’t believe you’ve brought him.” The Warlock said. “Him! Out of all the traitors of the Last City you could choose to bring back— you had to pick the one Xiumin would definitely bring the moon down for. I would’ve preferred it if you revived Dredgen Yor himself.”

“He can’t bring the moon down if we’re already in a moon,” Baekhyun joked, but Jongdae didn’t laugh. “C’mon. It’s not like _I_ brought him here. You should blame Kris. Blame him for everything.”

“Should I blame him for blowing my chances with Xiumin?” Jongdae muttered. “You should’ve seen the broken heart eyes they made at each other when they saw each other. Luhan calls him _Minseok_! _I_ can’t call him Minseok! Even though he calls me Jongdae!”

Baekhyun winced. “Oh, buddy. I’m sorry. I didn’t know you felt this way.” He totally did know.

Jongdae just pouted, looking at the ground, and kicking away a fossil in Sehun’s direction. Sehun, who had effectively dosed off against his rock, startled and scowled. Jongdae just glared more at the ground. Baekhyun shared a look with Chanyeol over Jongdae’s head, but the Titan just looked amused. 

“Of course you didn’t know,” Jongdae said. “I’ve been so subtle. So smooth. So coy. On top of my fucking game. Nobody could tell that I’ve been wanting Xiumin ever since we got Alak-Hul together.”

Baekhyun rubbed his nape, attempting not to laugh. “Oh, yeah. I guess not.”

“And now it’s all to be undone, because of an ex,” Jongdae sighed. “I feel like Chanyeol did with Kris.” 

“When did you even talk about—”

“—Okay!” Chanyeol was interrupting, shoving himself between the two of them. “Baekhyun! It’s so pretty and warm out here. Wanna go down with me to the Cradle?”

“Oh, sure,” Jongdae chimed in gloomily. “Have a romantic hiking date on the most sacred place in the whole of Io. Don’t mind me and my love woes.”

Baekhyun blushed despite himself at the word ‘date’ but got up. “Maybe I’ve just had it with your sulking. But hey, since Mongryong so kindly offered, he can help you out!” 

“I suggested helping him with his grieving over the death of a respected colleague,” Mongryong protested, but it was kind and sweet. “Not over an ill-fated crush! Captain, my experience with romance is zero-point zero six percent!” 

“Great!” Baekhyun exclaimed with a grin. “Because that’s about zero-point zero five percent more experience than what Jongdae here has!” 

“Hey!” Jongdae complained but left it at that. Chanyeol snickered and gallantly offered Baekhyun an arm, who took it with a smirk.

Baekhyun tried to hide his limp as best as he could as they walked. Having Chanyeol’s warm body as support was great help. Once they were a few metres away, the Titan burst into laughter, Baekhyun quickly joining him. It was a contagious sound.

“Chen has been raving about Xiumin for a long time,” He commented mischievously, as if revealing a big secret. “I think they’re cute together, but Xiumin’s a bit out of his league. Age difference the size of a few centuries.”

“Does that mean I’m way out of your league, too?” Baekhyun wondered, not bothering to hide the flirtation out. He could blame it in his fuzzy brain later. Chanyeol’s eyes widened, and his jaw slackened, but he recovered in a flash. “Since I’m about twenty years older.”

Chanyeol huffed. They hadn’t unlinked their arms as they walked down the rocks towards the strange city-like crater, and even though Chanyeol was taller, somehow, he managed to give Baekhyun a hooded look from behind his lashes. They were long.

“Baekhyun Byun,” The blond began, “We’re technically the same age. And I’m fairly confident we’re in the same league. In fact, we might play for the same team.” 

“Wow, take a metaphor and run with it, will you?” Baekhyun teased. Chanyeol chuckled. 

“I just think—” The man stopped himself, licked his lips, and shrugged. Baekhyun watched him intently. “I’ve been thinking constantly. Before I lost the Light, I thought I owned the world. And that I had all the time to live however I wanted, for as long as I felt like, because I was gonna live forever one way or the other. As long as I had Toben around, I wouldn’t need anything else.”

Baekhyun had heard that before. He hummed in agreement, because it wasn’t even that far off from the truth. 

“Now, though,” Chanyeol laughed at himself self-deprecatingly, shaking his head, and looking at Baekhyun once more. “Now it’s like I don’t have any time to waste.” 

Baekhyun didn’t say anything. They had reached the Cradle, or rather, the edge of it. It was only a few metres away. The structure was enormous— right in the middle of the crater, sat a mystifying coliseum construction, left behind by the Traveller. Nobody knew its purpose, of course. Not for the first time in his life, Baekhyun wished the Traveller could talk. He let go of Chanyeol’s arm and sat on an old trunk to rest his legs. Chanyeol took a seat next to him.

“I’ve always wanted to come here.” Chanyeol confessed after watching the Cradle in silence for a few minutes.

Baekhyun smirked at him, and quipped: “You don’t really look like the meditation type of guy.” 

“Probably because I’m not,” Chanyeol deadpanned, turning to Baekhyun, making him laugh. It was soft, though. It was like the Cradle itself commanded respect from them. “But I still always wanted to come. See what the big deal was.” 

“And how is it?” 

“It’s beautiful.” Chanyeol praised, but he hadn’t really torn his eyes off Baekhyun. 

Baekhyun couldn’t help himself. He snorted, trying to keep the laughter in, but soon, it overcame him, until he had to separate himself from Chanyeol to be able to clap like a seal. Chanyeol was starting to flush— not that Baekhyun could see very well with the tears gathering in his eyes. 

“Oh, my cotton socks!” Baekhyun cried out, once he had managed to get a word in among his laughter. “That was so, _so_ bad!”

“I thought it was romantic!” Chanyeol protested weakly. Baekhyun only laughed harder.

“I’m twenty-seven! I’m ridiculous! I'm covered in sweat and blood and dirt and oil! I haven't bathed since we left the EDZ!” The grey-haired man nearly screamed with delight. “You just can’t talk to me about not wasting time and call me beautiful in the middle of Io and hope I swoon! You just can’t! This is just too much, my heart’s about to give out.”

“Well, what I was supposed to do?” Chanyeol retorted, grumpy and embarrassed. “I meant it! I don’t want to waste time! I do think you’re beautiful! I did hope for some swooning, I thought we were on the same page—” 

“—Correction!” Baekhyun looked up playfully at Chanyeol. “We’re on the same t-team!” 

He wheezed out the last part. Chanyeol was not finding this amusing at all, only turning redder and redder by the second.

“You’re being mean, Baekhyun.” He accused, justifiably so. Baekhyun did his best to reign in over his cackling, because it wasn’t like he wanted to ruin his chances with Chanyeol, either. 

He, too, didn’t want to waste time. He wasn’t getting any younger. He, too, thought Chanyeol was beautiful. But Baekhyun had the terrible knowledge of what he had done to jeopardise their whole way of life. It was only because of that that they were even in the Cradle of Io, with the closest he’d allow Chanyeol to try and do a confession. It was hard not to know, painfully so, that Chanyeol wouldn’t have given him the time of the day if it wasn’t for the war. And whatever. Baekhyun would die, soon, anyway, and he surely wasn’t going to get resurrected. 

He still found himself taking in deep breaths to calm himself down, and to move closer to the now very shy Chanyeol. Baekhyun almost felt bad, but it was easy to forget about everything when Chanyeol looked like that. He sat Indian style on the trunk, facing Chanyeol completely. 

He wasn’t going to do this to him, Baekhyun thought. He couldn’t let himself break Chanyeol’s heart and let Chanyeol break his heart in tandem when it all inevitably came to a head.

But he couldn’t just say no, either. Baekhyun resolved to do just that and opened his mouth to say so. Let Chanyeol down gently, after laughing in his face. It was almost perfect, too— Chanyeol was expecting rejection.

And he just couldn’t.

Instead, Baekhyun found himself cupping Chanyeol’s cheeks. He found himself rubbing his thumb over the too-hot skin of the Titan’s face. It made Chanyeol’s breath hitch, and it made Baekhyun smile. It was sweet, though, instead of mocking. 

“I really am sorry for being mean,” He admitted gently, a bit too giddily. “And I’m sorry I can’t let you do this right now.”

“Why not, though?” Chanyeol questioned immediately. “What’s there to lose? I know we both like each other!”

“We do.” Baekhyun confirmed. Chanyeol’s eyes met with his then. The blond groaned. 

“See, you even have stars in your eyes,” The man complained, as if Baekhyun was offending him with his pretty eyes. “I’m not just saying that, either, you actually have stars in your eyes—” 

Chanyeol interrupted himself with a gasp. Baekhyun’s smile dropped slightly, as he understood that Chanyeol had comprehended what Baekhyun didn’t want to say. It was only natural, after all. Chanyeol had stared at Taken more than anyone there— he could recognise Darkness when it was right on his face.

Chanyeol turned his whole body too, and took his hands up to Baekhyun’s, gingerly, as if not to scare away the other man. With disappointment, Baekhyun noted the man was still wearing gloves even if he wasn’t. His expression had lost its ashamed flush— it was sombre now. He had that concerned frown Baekhyun had become familiar with. 

“How long?” The Titan wondered. “How long have you been…?” 

“…Infected?” Baekhyun finished for him when Chanyeol didn’t. “Longer than the war’s been going on. And it’s really, really getting worse.” 

“You don’t look insane,” Chanyeol countered, as if he couldn’t really believe it. “You don’t act insane at all.” 

“Maybe it’s because I always was a little insane,” Baekhyun suggested sadly. “Maybe it’s because I just see things, instead. Maybe it’s because there’s a huge Taken Darkblade following me around the system. But I’m definitely going to die, Chanyeol.” 

Chanyeol didn’t like that. He squeezed Baekhyun’s hands in his. “No, don’t say that. We’re gonna help you out, and we’re gonna save you. When we get the Light back, we can heal you.” 

“Everyone keeps saying that,” Baekhyun commented softly. “But you know? I’m starting to think it’s better if you don’t.” 

“How can you even suggest that?” Chanyeol retorted with a huff. “Do you even understand how much we care about you? Somehow, you’ve wormed yourself into all of our hearts, like some little— little—” 

“—Cockroach?” Baekhyun quipped.

“No! I care about you, Baekhyun!” Chanyeol boomed hotly. “I’m not just letting you die!” 

At that moment, watching Chanyeol’s passionate face, Baekhyun reckoned he could get one kiss. And he’d die happy. It was cheesy and corny and everything he had mocked Chanyeol for. He tucked it away in a corner of his mind, to never be spoken of again. 

He couldn’t kiss Chanyeol on a dirty conscience, anyway.

“I’ll tell you what,” Baekhyun spoke up. “When it all comes down on my head. When all hell breaks loose. When you see the truth. If you still think you care about me then, I promise I’ll give it my all.”

“What truth?” Chanyeol asked, but his eyes looked hopeful. It was almost as if it had gone over his head.

“Just,” Baekhyun shrugged, looking away for a moment. “The truth.” 

“And you won’t laugh at me if I call you beautiful?” The Titan joked at his own expense. 

Baekhyun bit his lip. Closed his eyes, as if trying not to laugh once more. He drew in a dramatic breath. “I’ll definitely try not to.” 

Chanyeol smiled, and it was fond. Fond, and happy, and Baekhyun could hear Luhan’s words echo through his mind like a ghost. Baekhyun couldn’t hint more at everything without outright telling Chanyeol, yet the Titan didn’t even look suspicious. They truly didn’t think Baekhyun was capable of evil. They heard what they wanted. Chanyeol heard only words of blooming love where there was a confession of his crimes. 

It made Baekhyun inexplicably sad. If it was for the disappointment these Guardians would go through, or the devastation he would experience when they would inevitably leave him, he didn’t know. 

“Alright,” Chanyeol agreed. “I hope you’re ready, then.”

“Ready for what?” 

“Ready for me to woo you,” The blond said simply, but he was grinning so wide his eye began to twitch. “When you’re all healed up.”

Baekhyun laughed, and it was a broken sound even to his own ears. 

“I’m ready, Chanyeol.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone! sorry this took so long and it's relatively messier story-wise. I'm just raving over all the new possibilities the new Shadowkeep DLC in Destiny gave me (turns oUT I WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVRYTHING i am so happYYYY I DON'T HAVE TO TAKE THIS STORY ANYWHERE NEW) and life keeps kicking my ass.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it anyway, getting a closer look at the convoluted world of Destiny! A lot of stuff happens in Io and I struggled to fit it all together. But we're closer and closer to OT12! woohoo!


	8. doesn’t matter how good you are; you stay out there too long, you’re not coming back

**viii. doesn’t matter how good you are; you stay out there too long, you’re not coming back**

Chanyeol was great company. 

It wasn’t anything Baekhyun hadn’t already known, of course. Hours upon hours of interstellar travelling either meant you ended up becoming quite comfortable with your companions or hating their guts. Happily, it was the former with the Titan.

Even if Baekhyun had rejected him, Chanyeol had taken it in stride. There was confirmation of their mutual feelings, after all, in Baekhyun’s words and actions— so, in a way, to Chanyeol it hadn’t been a rejection at all, even if Baekhyun’s mind was made up. 

Baekhyun, however, couldn’t keep a straight face and say it didn’t sway him a little bit. Chanyeol kept an arm wrapped around the grey-haired man’s shoulders, pressing him against his armoured chest, talking right into Baekhyun’s ear with his deep voice and drawing idle patterns on his bare arm. It was nice. It was easy to pretend that their little bubble by the Cradle of Io was all that mattered. It was easy to forget that they weren’t lovers, or anything similar, and that they weren’t in the middle of a war. 

Chanyeol didn’t try to kiss him even once, even if he looked like he wanted to. Baekhyun smirked smugly every time he caught the blond staring at his lips, which would make the Titan flush but grin at the same time, chastised and sheepish.

It was so normal. Baekhyun would have given anything to stay that way.

“You have a tattoo on the back of your neck,” Chanyeol commented at some point or other, trying to sound nonchalant, in his effort to look at anywhere but Baekhyun’s face, as if he hadn’t been staring at the ink disappearing under Baekhyun’s t-shirt just as intently. “I’ve never noticed it before. And your arms, too. That poncho really covers you up.” 

Baekhyun snorted. “Yeah. That’s the whole point of the poncho. Coverage.”

“I can’t decide whether you look smaller with or without it, though,” Chanyeol mused. Baekhyun mumbled something about not being small either way, but Chanyeol just kept talking. “They make me curious, you know?”

“What does?” 

“The tattoos.” 

“Oh.” The scavenger intoned. He rubbed at his nape, over the spot where he knew there was a line of writing. It was sweet that Chanyeol cared enough to ask, he thought. So, he could give him this little piece of intimacy. 

“This one’s my grandmother’s handwriting,” Baekhyun explained. “It’s something she wrote to my grandfather once in a note that I found. ‘Have courage’. I like the sentiment behind it. It was a note about how city lights were prettier outside the City Walls, and how they shouldn't be afraid of leaving.”

“They liked being out of the City?” Chanyeol asked and Baekhyun nodded.

“They lived for it,” He declared softly. “They couldn’t get enough of the system, really. If they ever returned to the Last City at all, I think it was just because we were there— my parents, Baekbeom and I. Otherwise, they would’ve just taken the Häkke Vimana and just— travel.”

“The Häkke Vimana?” Chanyeol repeated in surprise. “You mean, _your_ Häkke Vimana used to belong to your grandparents? Now I get why it’s—” 

“—A piece of shit. Yeah,” Baekhyun snickered. “It’s because it’s old as fuck. But it’s the only ship I have these days. My dad’s Cartesian KO got requisitioned back when I was fourteen, Baekbeom took the Wanderlonging to the farm, and I lost the Skulking Fox in that botched Cocytus mission a couple months back.”

Chanyeol hummed thoughtfully. “The Skulking Fox, huh? Your childhood pet name. Although it seems everyone knows you by that name, don’t they?”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun agreed, then sighed. “It stuck. That ship was my pride and joy.” 

“What happened to it, exactly?” Chanyeol wondered. “Kris rescued you, didn’t he? He said so, back in Nessus.” 

Baekhyun made a face.

“I don’t like to say that he rescued me,” He replied playfully, and then paused. When Baekhyun continued, he was more serious: “But he totally did. I crash landed on Luna on my way back. Hell. I’d probably still be there, if he hadn’t been passing by right on time.”

The Titan hesitated for a moment, before he dared to ask.

“Is that—” Chanyeol stopped himself, but then continued anyway. “Did you get infected on the Moon?” 

Baekhyun looked up at Chanyeol, raising an eyebrow wordlessly. The Guardian was looking at Baekhyun with wide eyes. Almost innocent.

“I mean, it’s a dangerous place,” He justified. “The Black Garden, the World’s Grave, the Hellmouth… It’s all teeming with Darkness. It’s prime infection zone, I’d say. There’s a reason why not even most Guardians are allowed there.”

“Well, I’m not most Guardians, am I?” Baekhyun replied with a witty grin. He grew more sombre, as he decided on what to tell Chanyeol. Best lies were the ones closest to the truth, and this time, he felt sound of mind. He could do this. Satiate Chanyeol's curiosity just a little bit. “I detected a disturbance while I was passing the Moon’s orbit. I let Jongok know, and she gave me the okay to investigate it, since I was already there.”

“And she just let you go, on your own.” Chanyeol stated, though he sounded unhappy about it. Baekhyun frowned at him.

“Yes,” Baekhyun answered. “I’m a Hidden Agent. I can take care of myself, and I did just that. I didn’t even encounter Fallen or Hive. There was nothing to report. And I’m giving you permission to read that log, even.” 

“So, when did you get infected, then?”

Baekhyun only smiled at Chanyeol drily. Like he was just going to just share that. Instead, he chose to lift his arm, and show off the tattoo there to Chanyeol. 

“Look at this,” He said. “It’s Xiaotong.”

Chanyeol, unamused, looked down at the ink on Baekhyun’s skin— his eyes widened once more when he realised Baekhyun wasn’t lying.

“Holy shit,” He murmured, and the scavenger laughed at his reaction. “How did you end up with Xiaotong tattooed on your arm like that?”

“I saw this symbol once on a book, and I liked it,” Baekhyun admitted. “I never thought it meant anything important— I don’t even remember what the book was about. When I saw her shell, though, it was uncanny. She’s just like a star, isn’t she? As soon as I realised, I got so embarrassed.” 

Chanyeol laughed as well, surprised.

“That’s so embarrassing, you’re right!” The Titan acquiesced unhelpfully, among peals of laughter. “Next time, you should get Luhan’s face right by it!” Baekhyun wrinkled his nose in mock distaste. 

“No, thanks, I’m good,” He jabbed at Chanyeol’s chest plate, although not harshly as not to end with a broken finger. “Don’t tell anyone. This is my biggest secret. I _will_ have to kill you if you share it.”

Chanyeol, then, stopped laughing gradually, and gave him a knowing glance. Baekhyun was lost on what it meant, until the Titan spoke once again. 

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol began calmly, even if he was smiling gently, “I’m not dumb. I know you only share secrets that don’t matter with me— with us. It keeps you from sharing your real ones.”

It was Baekhyun’s turn to be surprised. He gaped, but shut his mouth just as quickly, attempting to school his expression into one of impassiveness. Chanyeol merely shook his head.

“Hey, it’s okay,” He appeased the scavenger, as if he was a wild animal he didn’t want to scare off. It wasn’t actually far from their reality, if Baekhyun had to be honest. “We’re all entitled to secrets. I just wanted to let you know you’re not as subtle as you think you are.”

“It seems to work just fine on everyone else,” Baekhyun observed. He then lowered his eyes to Chanyeol’s half-covered neck, and voice to a coy tone. “Don’t you think you just watch me too much?” 

Chanyeol was instantly flustered. It was hard to imagine such an easily distracted guy as a godslaying Titan, but Baekhyun had indeed seen Chanyeol in action— even if he wasn’t in full possession of his power, he was still formidable. How irreconcilable the two images were made Baekhyun chuckle. But he wasn’t about to let Chanyeol off the hook, when he himself suddenly felt so vulnerable and exposed. He needed to balance the scales. 

“Aren’t you hot with all your armour and cuddling with me?” Baekhyun asked, and his grin grew when Chanyeol’s face turned redder. “You’ve been holding me this whole time, and the word ‘cuddling’ makes you shy? Come on, Chanyeollie. You’re even wearing gloves!”

“I really am hot,” The Guardian admitted, and then smirked slightly. “In more ways than one.”

Baekhyun groaned at that, rolling his eyes. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.” Chanyeol replied with a giggle. A fucking giggle, even if it was deep and low. Baekhyun had a crush on a big baby. “No, but really seriously, by now I must be really sweaty underneath this whole gear. It’s embarrassing. Even more than your Xiaotong tattoo.” 

“We’re all dirty and sweaty, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun deadpanned. “We haven’t washed up since we left Earth. We probably stink. And you’re worried about sweaty hands?”

Chanyeol made a big show of sniffing Baekhyun up, making him burst into laugh when his nose brushed against the grey-haired man’s neck. His stomach, in a second, flipped and turned into pleasant knots. He felt like a teenager again. Fuck Chanyeol, to Pluto and back.

“Stop that, you’re tickling me!” Baekhyun demanded among chuckles. Chanyeol only pressed harder, blowing air through his nostrils intentionally to make Baekhyun laugh harder. Then, he pulled away, but only slightly. 

“Either I’m desensitised to bad smells by now, or you just wear musk and sweat really well,” The Titan remarked. He sniffed once more, nuzzling Baekhyun very slightly. “Is that a hint of strawberry I’m getting?”

Baekhyun cackled, pushing Chanyeol away, with amusement shining in his eyes and pink cheeks. “What? No! There’s just no way. You just want to butter me up.”

“A little.” Chanyeol confessed, mischievous. He then pointed to Baekhyun’s opposite arm, to another tattoo. “You have two there.” 

Baekhyun followed the Titan’s gaze, towards the angel right over his elbow, and the text above it. He moved his arm closer to Chanyeol, so he could distinguish them better. 

“That’s supposed to be a cherub angel, whatever that is,” He explained. “Old Italy is full of them. On walls, statues, windows— everywhere. And I loved the motive, so, I got one for myself. I don’t really know what it means, though. I tried to find more info on them, but you know how pre-Golden Age things are.” 

“I don’t really know.” Chanyeol countered. Baekhyun smiled at him.

“They’re hard to find,” Baekhyun elaborated. “Unless you’re a Warmind.”

“I’m pretty sure some of the music on your ship is pre-Golden Age. So, what gives?” 

“Aren’t you curious tonight, huh?” The scavenger teased but nodded. “I told you it’s my grandparents’ ship. They were scavengers. Better scavengers than me, too. Of course they found stuff like that. And now I have Mongryong, and he has _a lot_ of pre-Golden Age stuff, he’s like a mini-Rasputin—” 

Chanyeol interrupted to slowly lift Baekhyun’s sleeve, so he could see the writing on his arm better. He frowned as he stared at it, probably because the words looked foreign and strange. Baekhyun recited them for him.

“It says, ‘mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur’. The world wants to be deceived, so let it be deceived.”

“That’s actually pretty damn gloomy,” Chanyeol commented, as he admired the penmanship. “Why would you get something like that?”

The scavenger looked up at the Titan once more. He was surprised at the question, at the hidden judgement he perceived in it. He was certain it showed on his face, as his smile faltered into something serious. 

“I don’t think it’s a secret that I have a complicated relationship with the Traveller and Guardians,” Baekhyun said carefully. Chanyeol only watched him just as carefully, as if gauging Baekhyun. It made him feel uneasy. “At some point, I truly hated it all. I got that quote to make peace with it somehow.”

“You know, that’s another thing that I always wonder about you,” Chanyeol admitted with a frown. “It’s not that you don’t like us. You’re friends with all of us. You work as a spy for the Vanguard. You don’t hate Guardians.”

“Guardians hate me, instead,” Baekhyun quipped, but it fell flat when Chanyeol didn’t react. Baekhyun deflated along with his joke. “Or at least, they don’t like me when they meet me. Especially the young ones. I’m a threat to everything they’ve been taught.” 

“What do you mean?” 

Baekhyun, in spite of himself, snorted once more. “One of the first things you did when we met, after I saved your ass, was freak out because I was taking you somewhere _illegal_.”

Chanyeol’s expression fell, but it was endearing. Baekhyun chuckled, even if it was a bit humourless. 

“Guardians hate to be defied,” Baekhyun continued, turning to be able to see the Cradle again instead of Chanyeol. This was almost like a trigger for him. He hoped Chanyeol would still like him afterwards. “Don’t get offended, but— you hate to question your existences, you hate to think about it, and those that do have to keep quiet about it or get shunned. All I ever do is prove you don’t need to be a Guardian to help out. Loudly. It’s unpopular.”

“Pretty sure the best way to get someone offended is by telling them not to be. I question myself.” Chanyeol retorted defensively. Baekhyun side-eyed him and pursed his lips, the first hints of irritation making its way through at the sight of Chanyeol’s resistance. 

“You’ve been reborn for what? Five years?” He asked plainly. Chanyeol muttered an affirmation. “And in those five years,” Baekhyun continued, “Have you ever stopped and thought about what you’re doing?” 

“All the time,” Chanyeol answered immediately. “I protect Humanity from whatever threatens it. I fight the Darkness.”

Baekhyun’s eyes fittingly darkened.

“Protect Humanity and fight the Darkness,” He echoed, more mockingly than he initially intended. His tone was more hostile than what he meant it to be, if Chanyeol’s gloomy face was anything to go by. “Did Sooman-52 tell you that?”

Chanyeol didn’t answer.

“So, bear with me— a big, white ball in the sky shows up one day and transforms your whole civilisation,” Baekhyun began, staring at the Cradle. “It rebuilds _you_ from nothing. It turns you into this incredible superhuman. You can do anything. But I doubt it mentioned the fine print about the omnipotent deep space anathema that’s coming to kill you and your dog and your whole football club.” 

He turned to look at Chanyeol again. 

“Also known as the Darkness,” He clarified for the Titan, acidly. “You know, the Traveller’s abhorrent arch-nemesis? What’s a little xenocide between friends, am I right?”

Chanyeol kept his silence— however, his jaw was setting into something hard and angry. Baekhyun almost thought of leaving it at this, but it was something he had been stewing over for the better part of a decade. The words escaped him.

“Have you ever questioned why _that_ happened?” Baekhyun pressed. “The reasons behind this whole mess, starting with Humanity encountering the Traveller in Mars.”

“No.” The Titan replied curtly. Baekhyun hummed. 

“I figured. And honestly, why would you? You don’t care,” He stated nonchalantly and waved it off. “A gun never stops and wonders if things are more complicated. It just shoots.” 

“I’m not a gun.” Chanyeol retorted darkly. 

Baekhyun attempted to abort a cruel chuckle. “My mistake. You’re a hero with big shoulders, big guns, and big bikes. A Guardian! You’re gonna live forever— or well, you _were_. Who’s got time for doubt? You gotta ‘fight the Darkness’!” 

“Baekhyun.” Chanyeol said his name as a warning. Baekhyun got up, even if his bad ankle made him stumble a little, as he lifted his body from the trunk they had been sharing. Rank-pulling never sat well with him. It felt like Chanyeol was pulling rank. 

“You know what I’d call ‘dark’, in the sense of ‘grim’, in the sense of ‘cosmically upsetting’?” Baekhyun questioned as calmly as he could when he felt so mad. “A universe full of weaponised puppets, enacting a genocidal war against the servants of a rival god.”

Chanyeol also got up, unnerved. Maybe unnerved was too soft of a word. Chanyeol was starting to look actually livid. “I’m not a fucking weaponised puppet, either! What the fuck are you trying to get at, Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun didn’t stop. He made a sound of disagreement, tilting his head to the side. 

“But aren’t you one?” He challenged. “I mean, do you _know_ why the Traveller wants you to fight the Darkness? Why it chose you and gave you the Light? Does it speak to you? Sometimes, I don’t even think it even speaks to the Speaker themselves.” 

“What are you even saying?” Chanyeol asked, incensed.

“I’m saying,” Baekhyun nearly growled out, “I’m saying, you Guardians just _do_. The Light might just be a way to control you, so you can control the rest of us, to do whatever you _fancy_ might be the Traveller’s holy bidding.” 

“If you think that, then what the fuck are you doing here in the first place?” Chanyeol demanded. The scavenger fixed him with a glare, but he smirked anyway, as if that would make him look less unbothered.

“Don’t you remember you begging me to tag along?” Baekhyun reminded the Guardian, who only grew angrier. 

Never mind that the Last City had been Baekhyun’s only home, too. Never mind that he had been a key to let Dominus Ghaul and his Red Legion into Humanity’s safe haven. Never mind how the guilt and the sadness were killing him. Chanyeol didn’t need to know that. If he was this furious, it was because Baekhyun had forgotten the most important thing about him— Chanyeol was, first and foremost, a Guardian. The blond couldn’t even recall being anything else.

“I can’t believe you would say something like this,” Chanyeol exclaimed, voice booming. “The Traveller has given you everything—” 

“—The Traveller has given me absolutely nothing,” Baekhyun interrupted harshly. Now, that was a rich assumption. “If I’m sick and dying right now, it’s because the Light abandoned me when I needed it the most. I’ve been –we’ve all been— caught up in a cosmic war that has nothing to do with us. If anything, actual Darkness has embraced me way more than the Traveller ever did.”

He felt light-headed, suddenly, as the truth behind his own words sank in. That was right. The Darkness, a sickening feeling he had carried on the pit of his stomach for so long, wasn’t his enemy. It wasn’t precisely his friend, either. But it could be his salvation. 

If he let it.

“Or maybe, I’m just saying this to get into your head,” He suggested airily, a radical change in his demeanour, as the horizon of Io tilted sideways for some reason and Chanyeol changed from infuriated to perturbed. Was he talking to himself? Was he convincing himself? Was he getting inside his own head? “It’s working, right?” 

And then everything was black.

It was a beautiful garden, with flowers in every tone of red he could imagine. Baekhyun thought he could lie in the grass of this cliff, letting the salty breeze of the sea grace at his skin, forever. The sun was warm, although not unpleasantly so, on his face. 

He didn’t want to wake up, or to stir in any way. Yet, something compelled him to. And so, he opened his eyes and sat up.

He was greeted by the sight of himself, cocking and uncocking the Ace of Spades as if it was a toy. It didn’t seem strange to see himself like this. He didn’t question it. When his reflection spotted him, Baekhyun smiled at himself. Baekhyun smiled back. 

“Let me in.” Baekhyun asked, sweet and warm and candid. Baekhyun blinked once, twice, but didn’t really say anything in return. He knew better. 

And then, Baekhyun cocked the Ace one last time. He pointed it at his reflection. He took the shot. 

Kris was great company, too, when he didn’t scold Baekhyun to the moon and back.

When Baekhyun came to, he hardly came to, really. It was as if he was underwater, both physically and mentally. He stirred, but only slightly, because his body seemed to weigh like lead. 

“—Unhappy, of course,” A distant, low voice was saying, and it only took Baekhyun a moment to recognise it as Kris. It gave the scavenger a strange feeling of nostalgia to just hear the Hunter speak. “But even Suho can understand how someone like Luhan can help our cause. Especially since Baekhyun said we can’t just blow up the Almighty. We need brains, not brawns. Luhan is nothing but brains.”

The scavenger slowly took in his surroundings, by touch, by hearing, and by smell. He couldn’t open his eyes, yet— it hurt to even think about it. He could tell he was on his emergency futon in the Häkke Vimana, covered by his own scratchy blanket. The craft was open, like he had left it. He could still feel the warm air of Io on his skin. There was something cold and metallic cuddling against his neck.

“Rasputin must’ve really done a number on him to make him collapse like that, huh?” There was another voice, deep and endearing and endeared at the same time. Chanyeol. Right. He had been arguing with Chanyeol. He strained to hear the tone on Chanyeol’s voice— the Titan sounded angry still, and also concerned. And… Suspicious?

“Warminds don’t exactly go easy on humans when they take over,” Kris retorted, sounding closer. Baekhyun slowly realised the man was actually sitting by him. “Couple that with exhaustion, and you got yourself a sure collapse. When was the last time he ate?” 

There was some shuffling. Chanyeol spoke quietly, “Probably before Titan. I ate his food.” 

Kris let out a hum of disapproval.

“Baekhyun gets so caught up on things, he just keeps going until he keels over,” A third voice observed. That was RouRou, Baekhyun reckoned. “His grandfather was a carbon copy of him. But Eun had Jeonghie to take care of him. And we can’t accompany Baekhyun everywhere anymore.” 

The names of his beloved grandparents tugged at Baekhyun’s heart. He sighed very softly, their blurry faces coming into his mind, smiling at him. 

“You did that? Accompany him everywhere.” Another voice asked, and that had to be Toben. RouRou mumbled, “Yes. We were a great trio.”

“And you knew Baekhyun’s grandparents?” Baekhyun barely registered Chanyeol asking. Kris hummed once more.

“It was hard not to,” Kris admitted begrudgingly. “They were fucking remarkable. Modern times Takanome Rangers or something.”

“What happened to them?” Chanyeol wondered. He lowered his voice, as if afraid the supposedly unconscious Baekhyun would hear him. “Uhm, Baekhyun mentioned something about the Vex…”

“Oh, yeah,” It was RouRou who replied with a grim snort. “There was this Guardian. We called him Seungri. He had this wonderful idea of going into the Vault of Glass in Venus— but he needed a fireteam to make it. He didn’t have the best reputation, so no Guardian would go with him. But the Byuns loved a challenge.”

Baekhyun had only been six when it happened. He hardly remembered the events of that day— and all the better. He preferred to keep other memories of his grandfather, like him teaching Baekhyun to count, or his strange lullabies, or his boisterous laugh, rather than the memory of his death. He was doomed to always remember the deterioration of his grandmother, rather than the brilliant woman she had once been.

“You shouldn’t just share this with just anyone, Rou.” Kris reproached, but it lacked heat. His Ghost only huffed. 

“It’s not just anyone! It’s Chanyeol Park!” RouRou argued. “And he made it abundantly clear he cared for Baekhyun in Nessus. Why shouldn’t we trust him?”

“Wouldn’t he prefer it if was Baekhyun himself who told him this?”

RouRou scoffed again. “Please. When you have this big of a crush, any source is valid.”

Toben spluttered for his Guardian. “E-Excuse me?! Chanyeol does _not_ have a crush so big sources don’t matter!”

“Actually,” Chanyeol interjected meekly, “I think I might have one. What happened to them in Venus?”

After a moment of hesitation, it was Kris who spoke: “Seungri lost his Ghost in seconds. Shot down by a Hobgoblin. But like it didn’t even matter, he urged the Byuns to push forward with the mission. There was zero chance Eun and Jeonghie would say no. They were a bit unhinged. Long story short— Seungri made it out unscathed. Eun sacrificed himself for them. Jeonghie went mad. And somehow, the Byuns forgave the Vanguard for letting that happen. Or so they say.”

Chanyeol and Toben were silent for a moment, as he seemingly took it all in.

“Where’s Seungri now?”

“Baekhyun had to kill him.” RouRou deadpanned, and surely the Titan and his Ghost had made a face of disconcertion, because he rushed out an explanation. “No, not like that! Seungri just kept being active on underground circles, you know? Sort of like a bounty hunter. Right before the Red Legion came along, he got a tip about a cache of Fallen engrams in Old America. Ran straight into the Taken and get this— _he_ got Taken, too! D.O and Chen can vouch for this. So, Baekhyun _had_ to kill him.”

Kris sighed heavily. 

“If the Cabal hadn’t invaded us when they did,” The Hunter mused. “We’d be running in circles trying to figure out who brought back the Taken. We were reading Baekhyun’s report on the whole thing when it all when to shit. I was actually about to call him.” 

“You guys are really close, aren’t you?” Chanyeol sounded dejected, and Baekhyun wanted to coo at him, maybe pet his hair, tell him it was okay. Kris and he could be close and Baekhyun could still have a crush the size of Jupiter on Chanyeol instead. His crush on Kris had reached Mars-like proportions at best, anyway. “You know so much about him. Meanwhile, I’m here trying to figure out how can he hate Guardians so much, and yet help us out anyway, like some dumbass.”

“Park, listen,” Kris tried to be comforting. Baekhyun knew it was a struggle for him. “Don’t beat yourself up. You guys have only just met, and Baekhyun is just good at making people feel at ease without actually being close. It’s like I told you in Nessus— the Vanguard and the Tower aren’t all what they’re cracked up to be. He lives by that knowledge.” 

“Baekhyun said something like that.” Chanyeol agreed sadly. Kris hummed.

“Baekhyun has every reason not to trust any Guardian he runs into. We were all shocked when it was Baekbeom Byun who left the Last City and Baekhyun Byun who chose to stay, instead.” 

“But hey!” RouRou exclaimed more cheerily. “After Baekhyun’s dad died, we did tag along with Baekhyun everywhere, since no one else would and the Byuns still had to make a living. We were like a fireteam. So, we do know him a lot, and we can tell he really, really likes you!” 

There was some shuffling. Someone was moving the blanket over Baekhyun, tucking him into it even more. It was getting kind of too hot. 

“You think so?” Chanyeol asked hopefully. Toben sighed in exasperation. Kris made a funny noise.

“Of course,” The Hunter replied. “You’d think I can tell when the bane of my existence is really infatuated by someone, by now.” 

Baekhyun opened his eyes then, automatically, just to glare at Kris. He was surprised to find the Hunter already staring down at him, but he still did his best to seem miffed. “Fuck you, Wu.” 

“And he lives,” Kris deadpanned, but there was the ghost of a smile on his face. Baekhyun could now see that Kris was sitting on one side of him, while Chanyeol was on the other, wringing his hands nervously. “You gave us a good scare, Byun.”

“I’m so glad you’re okay, Baekhyun.” Chanyeol blurted out, blushing as soon as the words came out of his mouth. Still, Baekhyun smiled just slightly at him, affectionate. “Uhm, how much did you hear?”

Baekhyun blinked very slowly at Chanyeol. The weight that had been nuzzling his neck lifted, and he was greeted by the sight of Mongryong.

“Hello, Captain!” The not-quite-Ghost saluted happily. “You passed out during your romantic hiking date with Guardian Chanyeol! I’m sorry your love endeavours have not yielded better results than Guardian Chen’s own.”

Baekhyun was way past denying he had been on a romantic hiking date with Chanyeol in front of Kris, who was now raising an accusing eyebrow at the flustered Titan. Never mind it had kind of ended on a bad note, right? Chanyeol was totally worried for him.

“Thanks, Mongryong.” He said as he sat up gingerly. He ran a hand through his hair, wincing when he felt how greasy it was. He couldn’t wait to get back to Earth or get a bath. As he allowed himself to wake up completely, he felt immensely better. “How did that happen?” 

“Luhan took one look at you and declared it as way too much exposure to Rasputin in one sitting.” Kris relayed, adjusting his body against the wall of the Häkke Vimana. Baekhyun looked around it. Aside from his own, two other mats had been extended, and Sehun was lying in one, seemingly dead to the world. “We all agreed.”

Chanyeol looked like he didn’t agree. Baekhyun didn’t agree, either, but they stood wisely silent. 

“Kai felt really guilty he had been the one to ask you to talk to Rasputin, so he wanted to keep watch over you,” Kris continued. “D.O shot that idea down pretty quickly, though.” 

“Well, to be fair,” Baekhyun started, as he stretched his arms over his head, “I offered. Didn’t think it would end this way.”

“It really had no other possible outcome, since you haven’t eaten since Traveller knows when.” RouRou sentenced. “Really, Baekhyunnie— it’s a basic necessity!”

“I have made calculations for the Captain’s self-preservation skills ever since we met, and it is a miracle he is alive!” Mongryong declared joyfully. 

“Why am I not surprised?” Toben wondered grumpily. Baekhyun batted the three little drones away lazily.

“Since you’re all so worried about me eating, you should bring me something to eat.” He countered playfully. Mongryong actually twirled.

“But of course, Captain!” He replied enthusiastically. “Guardian Chen followed my advice of sublimating his negative feelings into a productive activity and prepared a very bitter stew to represent his broken heart! Everyone detested it! I will prepare a dish for you right away!”

“That’s a glowing review if I’ve ever heard one,” Baekhyun joked, grinning at Mongryong. “Bring the terrible stew to me. What’s it made of? Taken neurites?”

“Silly Captain,” Mongryong intoned as he headed outside. “Taken dissipate into alternate dimensions upon their deaths. You cannot eat them!” 

Kris and Baekhyun stifled laughter. Chanyeol still seemed too concerned to laugh, even though he cracked a small smile. Sehun grumbled in his mat and turned over to them, opening his eyes just slightly. 

“You’ve succeeded,” The young Hunter claimed sourly. “You’ve woken me up. Will you keep it down?” 

“I passed out and you only care about your beauty sleep, Sehunnie?” Baekhyun questioned mirthfully. He put a hand over his heart, as if wounded. “That’s very cold.” 

Sehun grumbled more. He turned away from them, giving them his back. Kris, to his credit, did lower his voice when he spoke next.

“I better get going, anyway,” The Hunter Vanguard announced. “Suho has already made it to your brother’s farm, and we managed to establish contact. Tomorrow, we’ll scavenge out this Cabal base for anything we can use, and then we’ll leave for the EDZ, if Kai and you are well enough. We’ll even use one of those damned portals Luhan has. Sleep well, Baekhyun. Park.”

Kris ruffled Baekhyun’s hair as he stood up, leaving with RouRou in tow, who whispered a goodbye to the scavenger. Baekhyun used the opportunity to look over at Chanyeol, who looked— well. Kind of miserable. The silence between them and Toben was quite awkward. 

“Was I really that awful to you?” Baekhyun finally asked, as quiet as he could, as not to disturb Sehun. Chanyeol snorted. Toben bristled. 

“Well,” The Ghost began, quite irritated. Toben, however, always seemed to be irritated. “If you consider making my Guardian question everything he is and knows just because you feel like it, when he has no say on anything you accuse him of, when he just told you he has feelings for you, and then collapse like some— some jerk! If you consider that— if you consider that awful, then I’ve got news for ya, buddy—”

“—Toben, please.” Chanyeol lifted a hand to stop his rambling Ghost, who would surely have smoke blowing out of his ears if he had any ears to begin with. “I appreciate it, but I think I need to defend myself here on my own.” 

Baekhyun frowned at Chanyeol with no pretence. As everything he had said came back to him, he felt guiltier and guiltier. The blond Titan hadn’t deserved such a blowout, even if he seemed close to blowing up as well. He let the Guardian gather his thoughts and speak, with Toben steaming right beside him.

At last, Chanyeol merely let out a heavy breath. He sent Toben a meaningful look, who understood immediately and floated away into the openness of Io. When he was gone, Chanyeol spoke up.

“You made me really embarrassed,” The Titan began. “And then, really worried. And then, really happy and giddy. And then, really angry. And then, really fucking worried again. All in less than a couple of hours. You’re a rollercoaster.”

“It probably doesn’t help much, but I am sorry.” Baekhyun said lowly, partly so he wouldn’t disturb Sehun further, and mostly because he was a proud man. “I know… I know you’re a good guy. A great guy. An incredible guy.”

“But I’m still a Guardian,” Chanyeol quipped drily. “So, I suppose that’s the real deal breaker?”

Baekhyun shook his head at him. “What? No. _No._ Chanyeol, _I’m_ the deal breaker. I’m an actual certified mess with some big issues. I shouldn’t have unloaded them on you like that.” 

He paused. He gnawed on his bottom lip, as he debated whether to say it or not. He could lie easily, but the truth always came out harder. Chanyeol deserved as much, though, Baekhyun figured. 

“I know we said I didn’t seem insane, but I think I’m closer to that than any of us can realise,” He surprised himself with his own earnest confession. He looked down at his lap. “I think we both know this little episode had nothing to do with Rasputin.”

Another pause.

“Or maybe, it did have something to do with him,” Baekhyun suggested pensively. “But only because he was onto me from the start. I'm unstable, and the Warmind can tell.” 

Chanyeol didn’t say anything. Baekhyun nervously just continued talking quietly, almost as if following the stream of his conscience.

“I think I’m really starting to lose my grip on reality,” He admitted sincerely. “I’m really starting to doubt that when I speak, it’s me who’s speaking. That when I think, it’s me who’s actually thinking. My mind is just… It’s just so crowded in here, Chanyeol.” 

“Who’s in there with you?” Chanyeol asked seriously. Baekhyun shrugged. 

“Every Nightmare I’ve ever had,” The scavenger replied. “And then some.” 

They were silent then, both lost in their thoughts. Baekhyun’s face felt wet, but it was drying. Mongryong chose that moment to return, with a levitating, smoking plate of stew.

“Look, Captain!” Mongryong exclaimed as he floated in with the dish towards Baekhyun, either unaware or unwilling to deal with the tension. “No hands!” 

Baekhyun, despite himself, chuckled, and received the stew gratefully. “Thank you, Mongryong. You’re the best Failsafe a Captain could ask for.” 

“You will not think so when you taste Guardian Chen’s horrid food!” Mongryong stated happily. “His tears are not a good condiment!”

“It can’t have actual Chen tears.” Baekhyun retorted unsurely. “Right? You’re just messing with me?”

“You will have to find out for yourself, Captain!”

Almost regretting ever helping Mongryong out of Nessus, Baekhyun lifted the plate to his face, wrinkling his nose. It did smell quite bitter. Figuring it couldn’t be any worse than anything Kris had ever cooked for them during their trips, though, he took a tentative sip.

And nearly spit it out.

“Oh, wow,” Baekhyun felt like he had sucked on a warm lemon. This had cucumbers, surely. He was going to die. Where did Jongdae even get cucumbers, he didn’t know. “This really is a heartbreak stew. Fuck. Do I really have to eat this?”

“Yes, Captain, or you will perish from inanition!” 

“Mongryong’s right, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol added solemnly, although he didn’t sound as hurt as before. “You have to eat something. I can’t believe I didn’t notice you just hadn’t eaten at all since we left Earth. And you’ve barely slept since Titan.” 

The grey-haired scavenger hadn’t dared to look up at Chanyeol just yet. His eyes stood fixed on the bowl in his hands, rubbing his thumbs over the edges. “I’ve definitely eaten. I had that cereal bar, right?” 

“I actually ate that for you,” Chanyeol reminded him. “Listen.”

The Titan did something Baekhyun didn’t expect then— he touched Baekhyun’s chin, with his bare hand, and lifted the other man’s face to be looking at him directly. His heart sped up at the simple touch. His skin, where Chanyeol was touching him directly, felt like it was blooming with a pleasurable fire. 

He found himself looking right into Chanyeol’s pretty eyes. Baekhyun indulged himself in the sight, inadvertently relaxing his body. Chanyeol, who had been frowning seriously, seemed to soften just a tiny bit. 

“I’m still angry at you,” The Titan declared, and chuckled when Baekhyun visibly deflated. “Of course I am. You were very mean. But I also understand you’re not alright, right now. That you won’t be for a while.”

“You have a weird way of showing anger.” Baekhyun mumbled. Chanyeol ignored him. 

“Maybe I can’t make things better for you just yet,” The Titan conceded gently. “But I refuse to make them worse.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“It means that if you can’t take care of yourself, Baekhyun, then I will,” Chanyeol stated with a kind, sweet, affectionate sort of finality. “I get that you’re not ready yet for anything to… Happen between us. But just because you’re infuriatingly right about things, and you have a history I can’t compare to, and all of that pisses me off, it doesn’t mean my feelings have changed.” 

“Well, I sure hope so,” Baekhyun remarked nervously. “Otherwise, that would make you a very fickle lover.” 

Chanyeol, to his credit, didn’t groan or accuse Baekhyun of trying to deflect. He merely smiled fondly, even if it was a little sad. 

“Eat the stew, please.” He pleaded, and well. Baekhyun would have to just suck it up, wouldn’t he?

It was a pretty awful process. At least half an hour of Baekhyun’s life was wasted on that poor excuse of food, having to pinch his nose to go through with it, and gagging more than once. Jongdae was an absolute awful cook. However, Chanyeol coached him through it as if it was some sort of work out and made a few jokes here and there that were enough for him. He noticed that, at some point, Mongryong had discreetly joined Toben outside, talking the Ghost’s ear off. He was glad for the alone time.

Admittedly, however, he felt full and satisfied when he was done. He had needed food more than he had realised. Chanyeol gave him a proud grin when he was finished, and Baekhyun couldn’t help but to smile back. 

“Good boy.” Chanyeol commended, as he took the dish away from Baekhyun and got up from his side. Baekhyun followed his relatively bare body— he had finally ditched the armour, just like Baekhyun. His arms were great. Baekhyun wanted to be wrapped in them forever. He squashed that thought as fast as he could, but it only seemed to make it bloom again, stronger, when he looked at Chanyeol again. “We should get some sleep, now.”

“You don’t have to compare to any history I have, you know?” Baekhyun suddenly said, seemingly out of nowhere, but he knew Chanyeol knew what he meant. The Titan pursed his lips. “I mean it. I let my anger get the better of me.”

“Maybe,” Chanyeol agreed, as he pulled his own mat to be right beside Baekhyun’s. He didn’t even ask if it was okay— he had just done it without thinking. What would Sehun think? “It doesn’t change the fact that you’re right. I can’t remember a single thing of who I used to be. Not a single time when I’ve died have I gotten any visions. I’m no one.” 

“That’s not true,” Baekhyun argued, as he laid down fully once more. He didn’t really care what Sehun would think, all of the sudden. “You’re Chanyeol Park.” 

“But who is Chanyeol Park, really?” Chanyeol countered gloomily. He sighed, as he too laid down, facing Baekhyun. “I have no idea. All I’ve known is that I’m a Guardian. And I thought I was good at that.” 

Baekhyun propped up his head with his hand. “And you are a good Guardian. You’re actually one of the best. Crota’s End and all that, remember?” 

“What’s Crota’s End to a Dominus Ghaul and his Red Legion?” The Titan retorted. He shook his head. “It’s meaningless. And it was meaningless for him, too. I didn’t last more than five minutes in his presence.”

Baekhyun didn’t get to reply, because Chanyeol continued, closing his eyes. “Just like you –and I don’t say this to make you upset— he questioned why me, of all of Humanity, became a Guardian. He, too, questioned the Traveller. And in the end, he’s not here for me, because I don’t matter in the great scheme of things. You’re right, like always. This is a cosmic war that never had any regard for us.”

Before he could stop himself, Baekhyun scooted closer to Chanyeol, dragging his mat with his body as best as he could. Chanyeol had no blanket. He threw his own over their bodies. It was too small to share, but it was only an excuse to stay close.

“If I remember correctly, King Oryx came to our humble little town specifically to exact revenge on _you_ ,” Baekhyun quipped. “He probably invented the whole concept of Taking and Taken just to deal with _you_ , the Guardian who killed his son. As in, he knew your exact name and wanted to eat your head.” 

Chanyeol snorted a bit sheepishly. He threw an arm over Baekhyun’s waist after a second of apparent hesitance. Baekhyun let him. 

“So, that’s one cosmic war based off entirely on you,” The scavenger added playfully. “Kudos, really. Ghaul may not have gotten the memo of who he’s dealing with here, and the Traveller is definitely kind of a dick, but it’s _our_ dick.”

“That’s a terrible way to refer to the Traveller.”

Baekhyun punched Chanyeol’s chest lightly, making the Titan wheeze. “Whatever! What I mean is, no matter what _I_ think about the whole Light versus Darkness philosophical debate, what we gotta remember is that the Last City is still a real place. It’s still our real home. And you’re still a hero to the people who live there, because you do protect them. And you will protect them.”

“But what if we can’t do it, Baekhyun?” Chanyeol protested quietly. “The guy’s eating up our Sun and we can’t stop him. He took our Light, and we can’t get it back. We don’t know what we’ll find when we get back to Earth.” 

“When you put it like that, it is pretty bleak,” Baekhyun agreed. He had been tapping on Chanyeol’s chest with his punching hand, and now, he had splayed it over Chanyeol’s heart. It was beating really fast. So was Baekhyun’s. He leaned his head on Chanyeol’s chest as well and closed his eyes. “Add to that that I’m dying because of Darkness and no one can stop it. And the Taken are back. Yeah, it’s a mess.”

“You’re not making me feel any better, you know?” Chanyeol chimed, but somehow, he did sound a bit happier. Baekhyun huffed good-naturedly. 

“Mongryong’s the cheerleader. I’m the Captain.” He answered as if stating the obvious. 

“Mongryong’s a bad cheerleader, too.” Chanyeol deadpanned. 

“My point is,” Baekhyun interrupted, “My point is, yeah, there’s no sugar-coating it. We’re fucked. But. As much as Guardians weren’t my cup of tea once, sometimes I do look at all of you and think, ‘hey, there might still be hope’. We have a good team going on here. So, I’m not giving up. And neither should you.”

Chanyeol pulled Baekhyun closer. He was effectively hugging Baekhyun now, and there was nowhere the grey-haired man would rather be, he realised. This was bad. He was in deep shit from whatever angle he chose to look at his situation. However, he was starting to see this— Chanyeol might be worth redeeming himself for. 

“I want to tell you that you’re really confusing,” The Titan whispered. “I don’t have words for you. And I'm still mad.” 

“It keeps you on your toes, doesn’t it?” Baekhyun jested. But then, after a couple minutes of silence, he added quietly: “I confuse myself, too.” 

Chanyeol hugged him just a little bit tighter. 

In the end, Baekhyun hadn’t managed to sleep much at all.

Chanyeol had fallen asleep pretty quickly, in hindsight, while Baekhyun had struggled. Even tucked against Chanyeol’s body, which was pleasantly warm and comfortable in all the right ways, Baekhyun had the increasingly nagging feeling that someone was watching him. Whenever he opened his eyes and looked around the Häkke Vimana, it was like there was something in the corner of his eye, a shadow— but when he turned to look, there was nothing. Every time he was close to falling asleep, he felt like there was someone whispering around him, or screaming from kilometres away, which would, in turn return, him to a state of vigil. 

He knew what was happening. He had gone through the process before. He recognised it with despair, and yet, serenity. The past couple of months had been filled with incidents like this.

On the few times he had finally collapsed, lulled by the soft snores coming from Chanyeol and Sehun, he dreamt of fields of flowers, blue skies, tall cliffs, and pyramids in the horizon. He was always there to greet himself, a vision of Baekhyun that always seemed so peaceful, unlike the original. 

He kept asking to be let in— where, exactly, Baekhyun didn’t know. But he knew better than to saying yes to things he didn’t know the meaning of –had learnt his lesson the hard way— and he couldn’t trust dreams. So, the scavenger never allowed it, and never denied it either.

It had been a fitful night, no doubt. When morning finally came, he had been woken up to find Sehun looming over Chanyeol and himself. It startled him, but Chanyeol only grumbled something and turned away.

“Sehun!” Baekhyun exclaimed, a hand over his chest. Sehun only smirked at him. “Don’t do that!” 

“I see you’ve already progressed to sleeping together properly,” The Hunter observed with amusement. “After all those shitty half-cuddling huddles you were doing, I have to say it, this is very satisfying to see.” 

Baekhyun flushed. He turned to see the state of Chanyeol and himself. Though they had probably not hugged throughout the whole night, both of them were spread out like starfishes over each other. Particularly, he was over Chanyeol like it was the most natural thing in the world, and if he sat up, he would find himself straddling the Titan. He quickly moved away.

“Hey, don’t stop on account on me,” Sehun quipped as he watched Baekhyun. “Or actually— yeah, fucking stop. I came to sleep here to make sure you were okay, not so I’d have to see and hear you be all lovey-dovey with Chanyeol.”

“You totally yelled at me when I was waking up yesterday,” Baekhyun complained, as he pushed away the blanket from himself, and stretched. He rubbed his eyes with the base of his hands. “Don’t give me that worried bullshit now.”

“Hey, I was worried!” Sehun defended himself. “We all were. But you were in good hands. Also, hey, remember when you said nothing would happen between you two because there’s a war going on?” 

“You’re a brat and I hate you.” Baekhyun declared as he got up. He tested his ankle out, finding it still somewhat sore, but better. He took one final look at Chanyeol’s sleeping form, more fondly than he would ever admit, and just pushed Sehun out of the Häkke Vimana, following. Sehun was laughing.

Outside, a much healthier-looking Jongin and much calmer Kyungsoo were sitting on the centre of their campsite, seemingly examining a map. When they heard Sehun and Baekhyun come out of the ship, both Guardians looked up with relief. Jongin’s face was bright and fresh in the morning light.

“Baekhyun!” He exclaimed. “You’re okay.” 

Baekhyun grinned at Jongin and reached up when he was close enough to mess the redhead’s hair. The Titan –and his tiny, possessive boyfriend— allowed it to happen, Jongin laughing at the gesture. 

“Of course I am!” He stated. “Rasputin’s got nothing on me. I see you’re okay, too!” 

Jongin nodded his head with a grin of his own. “Yeah, well, the Taken got nothing on me, either.” 

“Both of you were telling a different story yesterday,” Kyungsoo reminded them seriously, although it wasn’t harsh. “I’m glad you’re feeling better now, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun winked at Kyungsoo. “Of course. Nothing a little forced nap can’t fix. Hey, have you seen Mongryong?”

“I’m right here, Captain!” Mongryong’s voice came from behind Kyungsoo, where he had been seemingly hiding with Ink and Monggu. Baekhyun noticed his not-quite-Ghost’s eye today was a little more yellow than orange. “Ink and Monggu were telling me about all the things I have missed while being forever trapped in Nessus!”

“Once you get past the uncanny valley effect, Mongryong’s actually a pretty cool guy,” Ink noted in that airy, almost bored way of his. He was mostly a quiet Ghost, but he seemed to be amused by Mongryong. “I’m fascinated on how you managed to transfer his consciousness to a Ghost shell, Baekhyun.”

“It was quite a gruesome process!” Mongryong exclaimed happily. “I will be happy to share all of my four hundred notes on every step the Captain took to achieve it!” 

Monggu groaned. Ink hummed.

“I’d be glad to hear them,” Kyungsoo’s Ghost said. “Please, do tell.” 

Mongryong began doing just that, in his usual cheery and merry tone, which certainly made for the almost clinical procedure to sound almost interesting. To an engineer, maybe it was. Monggu looked absolutely bored, and Kyungsoo just glanced over at the Ghosts fondly.

“Ink usually doesn’t warm up to anyone that fast,” The Titan revealed to Baekhyun. “It took ages for him to just make small talk with Monggu when Jongin and I are together.”

“Mongryong has a way on growing on people, doesn’t he?” Baekhyun remarked happily. Kyungsoo nodded. 

“Just like his Guardian.” He replied, and blushed at his own slip up when Baekhyun’s face twitched. “Uhm! Owner. I just meant to say owner. Or Captain, whatever. Sorry. It’s a little weird.” 

Sehun was the one who broke the awkward tension between them. “I wouldn’t apologise for saying the truth. Baekhyun is practically a Guardian by now.” 

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and waved it off. “No, please. I’d never.”

“You’d totally,” Sehun retorted, but didn’t press the matter. “Is there any breakfast?”

Jongin shrugged. “There’s Chen’s stew leftovers.” He laughed at the face Sehun made. “Hey, Chen really tried. It’s not like Io’s full of stuff to eat. He had to work with what he had.” 

Jongin wasn’t wrong. Io was bare of anything similar to life, save for the large fossils that littered its rocky surface here and there, and the trees and flowers that hardly looked edible. Baekhyun still had to ask, “What did it have? Chanyeol had to force that stuff down my throat.”

“What?” Jongdae’s voice came from his Arrowhawk, smirking at Baekhyun. “Did you not like the taste of the bad potatoes and questionable water I had lying around? Those potatoes came from your brother’s farm. I even added some instant flavour pills I found. They were cucumber!”

Baekhyun gagged at the mention of cucumbers. “I fucking knew it. You should’ve left it as potatoes and nothing more.” 

“Cucumbers are fresh! Perfect for the sunny Io weather.” Jongdae countered playfully. “I’m glad you ate it, though. Even if you must insult my cooking in the process, at least there’s some energy in your system now. Chanyeol was acting like a maniac yesterday. It’s terrible etiquette to pass out on romantic hiking dates, Baekhyunnie.” 

“Wait, a romantic hiking date?” Kyungsoo repeated with wide eyes. “Is that what they were doing in the Cradle? Damn, Baekhyun. You sneaky fox. Finally.”

“It's Skulking Fox, actually,” Baekhyun corrected haughtily, even if his cheeks were flaming. “Not that it’s any of your business what we were doing!”

“It is definitely my business,” Kyungsoo countered seriously. “I’m the one who has had to hear Chanyeol moan about how he didn’t know how to approach you back on Earth because you were so ‘enigmatic’ and ‘distant’. Did you know you have a mole over your lip? Because Chanyeol has made sure we all fucking know.”

“And your temple, and your chin, and your cheek, and your ear, and your neck,” Jongdae enumerated much to Baekhyun’s growing mortification. “He wants to kiss every single one. It’s disgusting.” 

Sehun and Jongin were delighted with the information. 

“Wow, Chanyeol has it bad.” Jongin commented with a smirk. 

“I’m making it my life mission to kiss at least one of the moles before Chanyeol gets the chance,” Sehun stated seriously. “Baekhyun, don’t let him kiss them until I do.” 

“No one is kissing any part of me!” Baekhyun protested, scandalised. “What the fuck!” 

“We’re all just very invested in your love story!” Jongdae told him with a shrug. “Don’t be like that!”

“For your record, since you’re all nosy-ass bitches,” Baekhyun began. “I told Chanyeol nothing was happening yesterday. And nothing is gonna happen, either.”

“So, you cuddled and comforted him all night to really drive the point home, right?” Sehun taunted in that apparently impassive way of his that was brimming with mischievousness. “Completely understandable. I do the same thing with Tao all the time.” 

Jongdae was squawking. “You cuddled?! But wait, was it a proper cuddle or was it that half-assed huddling thing you’ve been doing to sleep—”

“—Oh, it was full on snuggling in bed,” Sehun answered for Baekhyun. “Very domestic.”

“Okay, that’s enough.” A new voice interrupted. Xiumin was coming from the Cradle with Yixing and Luhan, looking miffed. Luhan looked gratified, while Yixing only seemed sleepy. “Stop teasing Byun. And someone wake up Wu and Park. We have stuff to do and no time to lose.”

The Guardians quickly changed their playful tone to a business-like efficiency, in an almost jarring manner. The presence of Xiumin changed things. Jongdae practically ran into the Häkke Vimana to wake Chanyeol up, while Jongin debated for a moment before going towards the Holacanthus— probably to get Kris. Kyungsoo, in the meantime, straightened up and gestured to the holographic map he had laid on the ground.

“Vanguard Xiumin,” He greeted. “We’ve been examining the map of Terrabase Charon and the the Wraith Mines thoroughly like you asked. We’ve located the signal of Jongok’s Ghost right where you last… Saw her.” 

“Good,” The Warlock responded, nodding, eyes cold. “We must get her and give her remains a proper burial before we leave for Earth.”

That sounded like a good idea, Baekhyun agreed on his mind. It seemed disrespectful to just leave the former Vanguard just lying around somewhere, even if it hadn’t even really crossed his mind until now. Xiumin didn’t look any less distressed than he had yesterday, but he was masking it well with a no-nonsense attitude.

“Xiaotong and I have detected a Pyramidion close by,” Luhan added. “I know we can’t stay and examine it further, but we would like to leave a few… Instruments, in order to have some annotations to return to when we get rid of your Dominus.”

Luhan said Dominus like the Cabal commander was a mere inconvenience. It was a dark contrast to make with how Chanyeol spoke of him— with fear, with insecurity, with anguish. It unsettled Baekhyun. However, he chose to make another observation, because it was even more disconcerting. 

“A Pyramidion, here?” He wondered in astonishment. “Since when?”

“Only a few months old, but it’s already an impressive construction,” Luhan replied. “The Vex are efficient.”

“We could also use some additional supplies,” Yixing spoke then. “The Cabal abandoned their base and didn’t take anything with them. We should take the chance and take anything useful. There must be more information on the Almighty, and how it works, to dismantle it, here.” 

“Not to mention, the issue of Rasputin.” Xiumin reminded them. “We wouldn’t be a respectable Vanguard if we didn’t try to poke the beast out of its vault. He might have more insights that don’t involve taking over Baekhyun Byun.”

Jongin came out of the Holacanthus, followed by a yawning and stretching Kris. The Hunter Vanguard spoke up: “Morning. What are we doing today?” 

“Retrieving Jongok, Pyramidion, good old scavenging, or Warmind business,” Yixing quipped with a small dimpled smile. “Take your pick.” 

“Scavenging, easy,” Kris said. “Can I take the resident collector with me?” 

“Baekhyun Byun is coming with me.” Luhan declared strongly. He surprised the Guardians with his forcefulness, and when they all looked at him strangely, he smiled sweetly. His smile held not even an ounce of sugar, however. “I need someone who won’t trigger every Vex alarm with remnants of Light. Take no offence, Guardians.”

“I’d like to work on the Warmind, if no one objects,” Jongin asked timidly. “I just might get through to him. Maybe.” 

Jongdae was pushing a half-asleep Chanyeol out of the Häkke Vimana now. Kris looked at the Titan up and down with disapproval. 

“Nice of you to join us, Park,” The Hunter mocked. “Since you’re late, you will be in charge of retrieving Jongok out of the Wraith Mines.” 

“What?” Chanyeol said dumbly. Kris gritted his teeth, and Baekhyun snickered.

“Anybody else has any preferences?” Xiumin asked. When no one said anything, he nodded. “Right, then. D.O, you will help Chanyeol Park with Jongok. Lay and Kris will scout for supplies and intel. Chen and Sehun will accompany Kai to the Warmind Vault.” 

The Warlock took a pause then to sigh.

“And I suppose I will make sure Luhan doesn’t kill Baekhyun Byun in the Pyramidion.” He finalised, much to Luhan’s delight and Jongdae’s horror.

“I would do no such thing!” Luhan defended himself, though he was unbothered by the assumption. Baekhyun swallowed.

“There’s no telling what you will do,” Xiumin said instead. “Is everyone clear on their orders?” 

Everyone grumbled their agreement, though neither Chanyeol nor Kyungsoo looked particularly pleased with their task. Baekhyun wasn’t sure he would have liked having to retrieve another corpse instead, but being stuck with two ancient rumoured lovers –when one of them was certifiably mad, and the other hated Baekhyun— in a Vex structure seemed like the worst alternative.

“Baekhyun,” Luhan called him from his thoughts. “Come with me. I want to show you the Pyramidion from afar before we go.” 

Baekhyun only nodded. By chance, as he followed Luhan towards a small hill, he caught Chanyeol’s eyes, who mouthed a good morning awkwardly. Baekhyun smiled, a bit more anxiously than he’d like. Luhan saw, and smirked, but said nothing.

Baekhyun could see through an excuse when he had to. If any of the Guardians did, too, no one mentioned it as they splintered off into their temporary fireteams. From the hill Luhan took him to, they couldn’t see whatever Pyramidion the Warlock was talking about, but Baekhyun stayed put. Xiaotong uncloaked herself.

“Baekhyun Byun,” She greeted in a velvety voice. “You’re getting worse at a very quick rate.”

Baekhyun looked around. They were too far from anyone else to be heard. Luhan hadn’t had to freeze time this time to speak to him. He nodded after a moment. 

“You noticed that, too?” He asked with little spark. “What a bummer, huh?”

“We communed with the Nine, last night,” Luhan mentioned casually, as if it wasn’t an absolutely mind-wrecking experience to all of those who met the Nine directly. To the Warlock, Baekhyun mused enviously, it probably wasn’t. “They were quite aware of their sibling’s contract with you and considered it unwise to break it now. They seem to have… An interest in you.” 

“That’s terrible, isn’t it?” Baekhyun questioned. The attention of one of the Nine was more than enough. The other eight would surely finish him off. However, Luhan shook his head. 

“Not at all.” He answered. Then he grinned, almost predatory. “Or, well. At least _for now_ , it’s not terrible for you. Mercury is weak and about to collapse. The support of the other Nine in order to keep the Darkness in you channelled might be just what you need. As long as you have that, the cube will work.” 

“The thing is,” Xiaotong interjected. “Things have changed for you drastically since yesterday. The Darkness in you has grown and transformed. Your sheer willpower, control, and that little cube aren’t enough any longer. It’s adapting, so you should adapt in stride.”

Baekhyun sighed. “I’m not getting into any more contracts, if that’s what you’re suggesting.”

Luhan hummed. “Of course not. It’s detrimental to our cause. No— what we need to do is make the cube stronger, so it grows with the Darkness. That way, we don’t break the contract that’s keeping you alive, but do so in our own terms. The Nine get to watch and you get to live. Everybody's happy. That’s the real reason I’m taking you to the Pyramidion.”

Baekhyun turned to Luhan with surprise. “What?”

“Don’t be scared, Baekhyun!” Xiaotong comforted with mirth. “We have it all under control!” 

“Pyramidions, as you know, are the Vex’s main machinoforming engines,” Luhan explained calmly. “And as you know, the Vex are just another iteration of Darkness. With a little bit of my help, they won’t even be able to detect any difference between themselves and you. You’ll be able to enter the Pyramidion without any fear of reconfiguration or conversion.”

“You’re telling me,” Baekhyun began cautiously. “That you want me to enter the Pyramidion, hope I don’t die in the process, so I can make the cube contain the Nightmares again?”

“Precisely.” Luhan confirmed.

“Alright,” Baekhyun acquiesced. “I’ll bite. What’s the catch?”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s no way there’s only good consequences to this,” The scavenger retorted. “I know there’s probably something in the Pyramidion that can do what you say and make the cube work again, but there’s just no way it’s that simple.”

“Nothing is ever that simple,” Xiaotong agreed. “If we make the cube stronger, you can guess what will happen. You will get stronger, but only because you’ll be channelling the Darkness directly.” 

“It could be almost like if you had the Light, instead of an infection.” Luhan added.

“Except it’ll be the Darkness, which actively wants to kill me.” Baekhyun deadpanned.

“The Light and Darkness aren’t that different, in the end— it’s about how you use them. And besides, it’s a temporary solution, Baekhyun Byun,” Luhan levelled the other man with an intense stare. It wasn’t a glare— but it pinned down the scavenger just as effectively. “I won’t lie to you. But it’s better than letting you waste away in front of all your friends. That Titan of yours… I keep forgetting his name. Chanyeol, is it?”

“What about him?” Baekhyun asked defensively. Luhan smirked at him.

“He’s deeply attracted to the Darkness within you,” The Warlock elaborated, and Baekhyun thought his heart might stop. “And you, too, of course, don’t give me those pathetic puppy eyes— but Guardians like him gravitate naturally to Darkness. Guardians with nothing to lose.” 

“We’re not totally disconnected from what happens in the Last City,” Xiaotong chimed in. “We know what’s going on. Don’t you think it’s remarkable that the first thing Chanyeol Park ever did after his rebirth was find a way into the Black Garden?”

“The Black Garden,” Luhan echoed solemnly. “The birthplace of the Vex. It housed the Black Heart, until Chanyeol Park destroyed it. Did you know that the Heart was a living aspect of the Darkness?”

“The Black Garden is one of the longest-running mysteries known to the Tower scholars,” Xiaotong continued. “Why would a new-born Guardian be prompted to go there, for any reason at all, and cleanse it, when no one in the Vanguard even ordered him to? When in fact, they wanted to stop him?” 

Baekhyun bit his lip. Luhan watched him, and finally, shook his head. 

“It’s because the Darkness is a magnet to anyone who feels they have no purpose.” The Warlock sentenced. “I’m sure you relate to that. Right now, you’re a magnet, too. And Chanyeol will lose his focus if you don’t do something to lock it all away once more.” 

“We have seen the end of the Red War,” Xiaotong revealed. “Chanyeol Park either kills Ghaul or we lose everything. So, really, Baekhyun, it’s in your hands.”

This wasn’t good. Baekhyun could almost bear the thought of losing the Last City as they had. He could almost make peace with the thought of losing himself. But, Chanyeol…

Chanyeol, who had nothing but kindness in his heart. A natural born leader. A warrior like no other. A man caught in a cosmic war he had no reason to fight in, and still chose to do so. He didn’t deserve to be lost to the Darkness. No. Baekhyun couldn’t let that happen to him.

Baekhyun sighed heavily. It seemed like the choice had been made before he ever had a say in it. But at this point, it seemed like no choice was his own.

“Okay.” He agreed faintly. 

Luhan and Xiumin, as it turned out, were _not_ great company. 

The Pyramidion was pretty similar to the Luxor in Las Vegas, if Baekhyun stopped to think about it. Much like its name suggested, it resembled a pyramid, in an ominous black— it blended strangely with the dry terrain of Io. It still was impossible to miss, once they had spotted it in the horizon. 

Fireteam Pyramidion had not spoken at all ever since they had left their campsite, despite Baekhyun’s and Mongryong’s best efforts to kill the tense silence. Xiumin refused to speak to Luhan, and Luhan, for once, seemed to be mindful of Minseok’s wishes. It didn’t really help that Xiaotong focused on guiding them forward instead, and that Tan –Xiumin’s Ghost— had been in an infamous standoff with her own Guardian for decades, and never spoke to Xiumin. Or anyone, to that matter.

“What’s up with that friendly Ghost, Captain?” Mongryong had asked in a whisper— or as whisper-y as the not-quite-AI could be when he was so cheerful. “She’s not very friendly at all!”

“They say Vanguard Xiumin and she despise each other,” The scavenger retold as quietly as he could, using his slight limp as a reason to trail a little behind the ancient Guardians. “She has never agreed with his work methods. I don’t know how that’s gonna work now that he’s the Warlock Vanguard, though, to be honest.”

“His work methods?” Mongryong repeated. “What does that mean?” 

Baekhyun paused. Smiled despite himself when he realised the irony of it all.

“Xiumin is a Thanatonaut. He follows a Guardian philosophy invented by Luhan pretty by the book. You navigate death in order to gain visions.” He replied. Mongryong made a loud ‘oh’ sound.

“Albeit that's very interesting, I thought Guardian Xiumin hated Guardian Luhan!” 

“Yeah,” Baekhyun said, watching the two Guardians in front of him walk with at least three metres deliberately put between them. “I thought so, too.” 

The rest of the time they travelled, Baekhyun had plenty time to think on what Luhan and he had discussed. He refused to turn on his comm to talk to the other fireteams— Xiumin could do that if he wanted. Baekhyun had much to mull over instead.

Luhan’s plan was pretty simple— on the guise of leaving some sensors and radars inside the Pyramidion neither Xiumin nor he could enter without waking the Vex, Baekhyun would be sent inside with the instruments on their wake. He wouldn’t have to travel far— the first conflux he saw would be all he needed for their purpose. He just had to connect the cube of the Nine to it, and let the Darkness do the rest. 

He would suffer, of course. There would be an acceleration of the infection at first, and Baekhyun had to be mindful to keep his screams of terror and horror to himself, Luhan had warned. Then, just as fast as it had begun, it would be over. Baekhyun would be the closest to the Darkness and its abyss he would ever be— but this would turn into power, rather than sickness. At least, for a little while. The Nightmares, the visions, the insomnia, the narcolepsy bouts, the paranoia, it would all probably be stronger than ever. The Nine would probably want a piece of Baekhyun as well, even if Luhan had warned them off the scavenger. They would have to work fast to defeat Dominus Ghaul, then.

Baekhyun had been sceptical at first.

“How is Xiumin even gonna fall for that blatant lie?” He wondered with a frown. “There’s no way _anyone_ could go into a Pyramidion without alerting the Vex. He’ll have to know something’s up. He knows how the Vex work.” 

Luhan’s eyes glinted dangerously. 

“He also knows how Rasputin works,” The Warlock countered with smugness lacing his voice. “He _knows_ , and Kris knows, and Lay knows, and every Guardian knows Rasputin doesn’t _take over_ anyone unless they’re infested with Darkness or represent a real threat. But somehow, they completely forgot that yesterday. And when you collapsed, they didn’t even question it had to do with Rasputin— even those who doubted it.”

Baekhyun’s stomach dropped. That _was_ true. He had come to the same conclusions, after all, but then— how— 

He stared at Luhan for a long time. He thought of how he had frozen time without any Light. The portals he had opened between worlds. The futures he had shown others. And not for the first time, he was reminded of how Luhan wielded not only the Light, but also Darkness, through the Vex Collective. Mind manipulation wasn’t outside of his realm of possibilities.

“Are you manipulating me too, so I do this?” He asked without pretence. “I don’t _need_ more people manipulating me. You can just ask.”

“And I did ask,” Luhan replied gently, his face turning from the previous cockiness to something softer. “And you said yes. I told you I would help you, because it means ensuring Minseok’s safety. I’m not lying. This is the only way.”

And that had been that.

“Here we are.” Baekhyun heard Xiaotong announce at last. He had been so deep in his thoughts, it was as if he had blacked out altogether. He figured he would have to get used to that sensation now. “No Vex in sight! How strange!” 

“They must be hiding inside,” Xiumin pondered. “This is very dangerous for Baekhyun, Luhan. We should not allow him to go on his own.”

“It’ll be fine, Minseok,” Luhan reassured the other Warlock, with a warm tone that only seemed genuine when referring to— well. Minseok. “You must let him go. We’ll only bring him trouble. The Vex won’t even notice him.” 

Now that he was looking for it, Baekhyun could tell how Xiumin’s body relaxed minutely. Surely, it was the effect of whatever magic Luhan was using on him. It was so subtle, not even such a seasoned Warlock could detect it. It was terrifying for Baekhyun.

“Baekhyun Byun,” Xiumin was speaking to the scavenger then, as if he had nothing to disagree with. “We’re counting on you, then. We’ll be standing guard here, so if anything happens, we’ll be inside right away.” 

In front of them, stood a giant, circular Vex gate. As if sensing their presence, the gate began to open, revealing a portal. Its milky radiolarian glow scared Baekhyun more than he’d like to admit. He didn’t want to end up like his grandfather.

 _You’re ending up like your grandmother instead_ , he told himself for encouragement. _So, really, what do you have to lose_? 

He had to do this. If it was for his own sake, Chanyeol’s, the Guardians’, or winning the war, he wasn’t sure.

He nodded at Xiumin, and then at Luhan. He cocked his hand cannon, even if Luhan had assured him that he wouldn’t be needing any guns. He couldn’t be too safe, for once in his life. Luhan handed him the supposed sensor he was to plant inside the Pyramidion— the supposed reason for even going in.

“I’ll see you on the other side, then. Let’s go, Mongryong.” He said and Mongryong agreed, as he stepped forward towards the portal. In the last seconds before crossing it, a deep voice crackled through his radio— someone had been listening in, it seemed. 

“ _Baekhyun_ ,” Chanyeol said with urgency. “ _Be careful_.”

He didn’t have the chance to reply. He crossed the portal before he could, and then, all signals were lost. After all, he was entering a different plane of time and space. It was dark inside, but Baekhyun could distinguish the replicating diamond structures that lead downwards towards— well. Baekhyun wished he didn’t have to find out. It was also deceptively devoid of any Vex. 

“I thought once I left Nessus, I’d never have to see the Vex again,” Mongryong commented, for once, sounding more subdued than usual. “And now, look at me! Inside a Pyramidion!” 

“It’s only been a day since you left Nessus,” Baekhyun consoled as he moved forward, looking around cautiously. “Plus, the Vex are everywhere, really. If they haven’t made it to Earth yet it’s because they don’t feel like it. I don’t particularly want them to feel like it.” 

“Will Luhan’s plan truly work, Captain?” The not-quite-Ghost asked with concern. He was, after all, aware of everything that happened to Baekhyun. He hadn’t bothered to hide the strange machinations of Luhan to him, when the computer core had security modules so strong. “It sounded like quite a far-fetched idea.” 

“Everything that has happened since the Cabal attacked us was but a mere far-fetched possibility, Mongryong,” Baekhyun retorted. “Until it wasn’t. If anything, this just confirms that nothing’s impossible. We’ll never finish understanding the cosmos.” 

“That’s well and all, Captain,” Mongryong interjected. “But I would rather not lose my new Captain so soon after meeting him!” 

Baekhyun smiled. Oh, this little computer core was such a dear. 

“You won’t lose me,” He comforted him, “I just need you to scan for a nearby conflux, and then we can— oh, fuck!”

Here, were the Vex. Goblins and Hobgoblins all aligned in formation as if awaiting orders. Baekhyun reached for the Ace of Spades instantly, ready to shoot, and he would have, if it hadn’t been for how it seemed like every single robot turned their bright red eyes to him at once. 

It startled him so much, he dropped the Ace. However, no Vex made a move. 

“Captain, this is most irregular!” Mongryong exclaimed with concern. “The Vex— they’re not attempting to vaporise us at all!”

Baekhyun’s eyes darted down to his gun. He almost didn’t dare to grab it, but he had to. How long would these creatures stay this way? Very slowly, and without taking his eyes off the army in front of them, he kneeled. 

“Keep your voice down, Mongryong,” The scavenger commanded lowly. “But yeah. It’s freaking me out.”

Without any regards to lowering his voice, Mongryong gasped. “Captain! What if Luhan was right after all?!”

Baekhyun slowly extended his fingers over the Ace of Spades, watching the Vex watch him. He didn’t answer to Mongryong. This was incredibly unnerving. It was even more unnerving with how silent they were. 

He wrapped his hand around the hand cannon and got up just as slowly. The Vex were frozen, almost, except for their singular eyes.

“Where’s the nearest conflux, then, Mongryong?” He asked, voice shaking. He wondered if this had been how his grandparents had felt when going into the Vault of Glass. Probably not— they had been reckless and valiant, where Baekhyun felt petrified and spooked. He had taken more after his parents than people knew.

“Right past the menacing, unmoving army of Vex, Captain!” Mongryong replied in a nervous excitement. “Because of course!”

“Because of course.” Baekhyun parroted pathetically. “I guess we… Just move forward, then? They won’t hurt us?”

“Well, I sure hope so, Captain!” Mongryong remarked. “I am unable to make any calculations of our survival inside this very horrible place! It’s like we’re nowhere and everywhere at once!” 

“Big Vex energy, that,” Baekhyun quipped without enthusiasm, as he began walking once more— slowly, carefully. Every single red eye on him and Mongryong floating besides him. “Nowhere and everywhere at once. Pyramidions are constantly changing, they say.” 

Baekhyun never thought he’d see alive Vex from so up close. He had made more than his fair share explode, or lose the shell they had for fake heads, or pull apart their metal from their dead bodies— even if he was no Saint-14. He was certain the helmet he was now wearing had to be made of Vex remains, even. The scarlet colour of their eyes followed Baekhyun, as if they were a well-made painting. 

When he was halfway through, he started to lose his fear when he realised the Vex would not harm him. Baekhyun stopped in front of a particular Hobgoblin, and since he would never get the chance again, he poked one of its antlers with the barrel of his gun. The robot didn’t budge.

“This is surreal.” He mumbled in awe.

“I am deeply uncomfortable, Captain!” Mongryong declared merrily. “We should keep moving!” 

“I know we should,” Baekhyun conceded, but made no move, examining the Hobgoblin like he would never ever again do. It was strange to think all of these Vex were connected. All Vex in history were connected. He wondered if… “Hey, Grandpa Eun?”

The Hobgoblin made a tiny, robotic sound. Baekhyun shouted and jumped in fear, and quickly rushed to the end of the army. Only Mongryong and the eyes followed. He was never attempting contact with the Vex Collective ever again. Until exactly ten seconds later, when he reached the conflux. 

The conflux was like living lines of bright, white pixels, all together to create a strange rectangle of data and information. A true concentration of all the knowledge the Vex had. They were a direct line into the Vex Collective, and that way, right into the Darkness. This was it. The moment of truth. 

“Are you scared, Captain?” Mongryong asked, as Baekhyun unclasped the black cube from his utility belt. He hummed and nodded, instead of speaking. Mongryong spoke up for him. “How does that contraption work?”

It was maybe an attempt to distract him from the fear. Baekhyun appreciated it.

“Uhm, well,” He began. “I told you about the Nightmares. This works like a little container for them, you know? When I open it, they get unleashed and I can control what they do, thanks to the influence of the Nine. But since Mercury is—”

“—Practically obliterated!”

“—Yeah.” Baekhyun snorted. “It’s not really working without them.” 

He brought the cube closer to the conflux, without completely dropping it inside. He winced, took a deep breath, and looked over at Mongryong, who gave him a blink.

“Go on, Captain!” The not-quite-Ghost encouraged.

And go on Baekhyun did. The cube fell.

The garden was beautiful as in every dream he had. Baekhyun found himself watching the horizon before him with a tranquillity he had never completely achieved on his own. Nothing was terrible here. 

His eyes caught on a structure in the middle of it all— a mesa-like rock, gigantic and mysterious, green and lush like everything around it. Baekhyun idly reckoned it matched the Cradle of Io.

“Look at your hands,” Baekhyun told himself, and Baekhyun turned to see his doppelgänger smiling at him. “Everything grows here.”

Baekhyun did look. His nails were indeed longer than they had been only this morning— almost claw-like. He winced and looked up again. Baekhyun only continued to smile.

“We’re so close now,” Baekhyun commented, and Baekhyun noticed that indeed, they were. This was the closest he had been to himself, thighs touching only slightly. “Why aren’t you letting me in?” 

Baekhyun pursed his lips. Closed his fists, the overgrown nails digging into his palms, though not harshly enough to make himself bleed. Baekhyun saw this and laughed.

“Just let me in, Baekhyun,” The scavenger repeated. “I’ll give you a little taste of what it’s like. You’ll see that it’s better, that way. I have heard your cries for help.” 

Baekhyun leaned closer.

“Let me in,” Baekhyun asked once more, as nicely as always. “I’ll get rid of all of them for you.” 

He was unsure of what Baekhyun was referring to, almost. He stared once more at himself, at his strange reflection, and noticed something— his eyes did have stars in them. They were ominous and eerie, especially on his relaxed, happy face.

It only took a second. He reached quickly, and with his claws, he slashed at Baekhyun, who shrieked, protecting his face. Baekhyun used the opportunity to get away from the other, breathing heavily, as if he had done something horrible. 

When Baekhyun looked up, bleeding from his cheek, Baekhyun knew that he indeed had sentenced himself. The smirk he gave himself was dangerous and horrifying in how it twisted his own face into something ugly and threatening. He didn't know he was capable of making such an expression.

“You will let me in,” Baekhyun declared in a low voice, “And I devour you whole, until there’s nothing left of you to save.”

“I’d like to see you try.” Baekhyun spoke for the first time, defiant. Baekhyun laughed, and a gust of strong wind blew through the field of flowers, tearing some of them straight from the earth.

“—ptain? Captain?”

Baekhyun gasped loudly, moving away from the conflux, cube in his hand like it had never left it. He almost dropped it once more, with how quick he was to clasp it back on his belt, and remove his gloves, throwing them off to the ground.

His nails were okay. They were a normal length, just like he had left them. A bit uneven where he had been untidy with his trimming. Nothing that could qualify as a claw.

Baekhyun let out a heavy exhale.

“Captain!” Mongryong called once more, sounding pretty scared. His range of emotions was seemingly growing, or Baekhyun had truly managed to terrify the not-quite-AI. “You were screaming! You were screaming so much, like I had never heard any human do! I thought you were in so much pain! I could do nothing, not even perform a scan, it was all so fast—” 

“—Mongryong,” His voice failed him at first, cracking in the middle. His face felt warm. He was trembling like a leaf. He turned to his little drone with urgency. “Mongryong, we need to leave, okay? It’s done. I’m fine.”

The army of Vex were still watching them. However, no robot had advanced in any way. Baekhyun, however, did notice they had their cannons and guns drawn out. It wasn’t a good sign. He ran towards them, seeing no other way back rather than through them. Mongryong cloaked himself and followed.

As they moved through them, the Vex did something unexpected once more. In complete coordination, as Baekhyun went past them, they began kneeling for him, and emitting a high-pitched sound. As more voices joined in, Baekhyun noticed it was like a song. They didn’t stop staring at Baekhyun. He let out a moan of distress, running faster, but his bad ankle gave out at the worst possible moment and slowed him down.

“What are these Vex even doing?” Mongryong questioned from nowhere. “Never, in my five hundred years in Nessus, have I observed any Vex do anything remotely like this— this ritual!”

“We’re not sticking around to find out.” Baekhyun said curtly. He could see the portal, now, only a few metres away. The song of the Vex was getting louder and louder.

Before they could reach the exit, however, Baekhyun watched with horror as a new Vex portal opened, and a big Minotaur materialised in front of him, dropping and staring at him once more. This one, though— this one wanted to kill Baekhyun. When it began shooting, it was as if the other Vex came to life as well.

“Captain, watch out!” Mongryong exclaimed. “The Vex will vaporise you!” 

Baekhyun dove out of the range of the slow Minotaur, but he knew he wouldn’t make it on his own against the small army here. In a moment, Baekhyun realised what this was— a test. But from who, he wasn’t sure. Luhan? The Darkness? The Nine?

Himself? 

“Mongryong, take cover!” He yelled as he hid behind a column. This was it— again. Another moment of truth, he supposed.

And he opened the cube.

When Mongryong and he left the Pyramidion, Luhan and Xiumin seemed to be in the middle of a heated conversation. Both Guardians stiffened at the sight of Baekhyun, who, admittedly, looked a little worse for wear. Xiumin looked him up and down.

“You did get attacked, didn’t you?” The Warlock asked, glaring at Luhan like he could reduce him to smithereens. Luhan actually looked surprised, as if he hadn’t expected that to happen at all. 

Not trusting his voice at first, Baekhyun only nodded. He was glad they couldn’t see his face. By his side, Mongryong was quiet and shaken, refusing to look up. He didn’t blame the little light. He just hoped Mongryong would return to his happy self soon. He’d need it. 

“Wait, what?” Luhan uttered, astonished. “Attacked by what?”

“By the Vex, Luhan, by what do you think?” Xiumin was the one who answered instead of Baekhyun, snapping at the other Guardian. “I knew this would happen. You put Baekhyun through an unnecessary risk for something as negligible as a couple of sensors—”

“—Hey, monitoring any sort of Vex activity has saved your cute little ass many times before, Minseok—”

“—Stop calling me that—” 

“—Okay, shut up.” Baekhyun finally managed to choke out, waving them off with his Ace. “It was my fault, alright? I touched a few things I shouldn’t. Messed with some confluxes. How long was I gone?” 

Xiumin didn’t look happy with his answer, but the Vanguard sighed tiredly. He rubbed his eyes. “Around three hours. We were about to storm the place looking for you. Chanyeol Park and D.O were already on their way here.” 

Baekhyun whistled, attempting to regain some sense of normalcy. “Three hours?! That only felt like minutes to us! Vex time really works weirdly, doesn’t it, Mongryong?”

“It does,” Mongryong agreed quietly. He then cleared his non-existent throat and repeated in a more upbeat tone. “It does, Captain!”

“You should tell Chanyeol and D.O that there’s nothing to worry about.” Baekhyun advised, putting the Ace of Spades finally in his holster. He hoped neither Warlock noticed that his hands were shaking as he did. He was trying his absolute best to be normal right now.

“I will tell them when they get here,” Xiumin conceded lightly, as if it wasn’t an important detail, clearly looking at Baekhyun’s hands. “Where did your gloves go?”

Baekhyun cursed. He had forgotten his gloves inside the Pyramidion. There was no way he was going inside again.

“Shit, I took them off and just left them there,” He admitted, pulling down on his poncho anxiously. “They’re as good as lost. I’m not going back in there. I left the Vex fighting over their confluxes.”

Xiumin looked like he wanted to ask what that even meant, but there was the loud roaring of sparrows in the immediate distance. That had to be Chanyeol and Kyungsoo. Baekhyun craned his neck to look at the road, and indeed— there they were. Two Titans stuffed into a bike, clearly too big for it, with Kyungsoo having to stand precariously on the back as Chanyeol drove towards them.

“Have you ever thought Titans’ armour is too clunky and unnecessary?” Xiaotong asked. “Because they look ridiculous.”

“We shouldn’t make them climb all the way down here,” Baekhyun suggested, feeling guilty by now. “Let’s meet them halfway.” 

“Sure,” Luhan agreed. “Let me just open a portal—”

“—We’re walking, you show-off.” Xiumin interrupted. He then turned on his comm. “Park, D.O. Baekhyun is safe and sound. You got here just in time to bask in all his alive glory. Wait for us at the base of the Pyramidion.”

“ _Fucking Baekhyun._ _Do you have any idea how fast Chanyeol drives_?” Kyungsoo was already complaining to Baekhyun on the radio, sounding a bit shaky. Baekhyun couldn’t help but to laugh.

“What’s the matter, D.O, can’t you take a little speed?” He teased. The Titan grumbled. 

“ _I’d be happy to do without it, thanks_.”

“ _What even happened to him_?” Chanyeol wondered, as if Baekhyun wasn’t right there to answer for himself. The scavenger bristled. “ _You guys went radio silent for the longest time. Why would you let him go into a Pyramidion on his own_?” 

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again,” Baekhyun interrupted them, as the two Warlocks and himself made the climb down the Pyramidion, which was a twisted sort of stairs around the pyramid itself. “I can take care of myself, Chanyeol.”

“ _Oh, I don’t doubt that_ ,” Chanyeol remarked. “ _Extra help never killed anyone, though, did it_?”

Baekhyun muttered something unkind under his breath. In reality, however, he felt better with Chanyeol here. And that was absolutely terrible, he reckoned, he was so fucked.

It wasn’t long before the two fireteams had reunited. The relief Baekhyun felt upon seeing Chanyeol’s tall form so close almost ashamed him, but he guessed he was allowed a little reverie, after having to literally face all of his worst fears all at once. He was certain that, if Chanyeol knew what Luhan and he had done, he would be furious. Somehow, it made him feel better. 

When spotting Baekhyun, the Titan immediately looked down at his hands. Even through his helmet, Baekhyun could imagine the blond’s confused face. “Where did your gloves go?”

“I took them off to hack a conflux and I didn’t have time to get them on again when the Vex started attacking me.” Baekhyun explained. Both Chanyeol and Kyungsoo blanched. 

“I thought the whole point was the Vex wouldn’t attack you?!” Chanyeol exclaimed. Kyungsoo was shaking his head. “Byun, you’re a menace. Who told you to hack a conflux?” 

“No one!” Baekhyun chirped. “How many opportunities am I gonna have to go into a Pyramidion? I had to shoot my shot!” 

Xiumin sighed again, this time more theatrically. He looked over at Luhan. “Do you understand now why Kris is so high-strung these days?”

“No day with Baekhyun Byun is dull.” Luhan quipped with a hint of fondness, smiling at Xiumin. Xiumin, for a small moment, smiled back, but when he realised what he was doing, he hardened his expression and turned to the Titans in front of him.

“Have you already taken Jongok’s body to the camp?” The Vanguard asked instead. Kyungsoo nodded.

“Yes, sir. Everything’s ready for a small send-off,” The black-haired Guardian assured him, and Xiumin nodded in approval. “Then, we’ll be ready to take off to the EDZ.” 

Xiumin began walking with the Titans. “Did the Rasputin and Charon fireteams find anything interesting?”

“Actually, yes,” Chanyeol began. “Kai managed to talk to Rasputin, without any take overs, thankfully. It was short, but—”

Baekhyun was following them and the conversation, but he was stopped by a strong hand grabbing onto his arm and pulling him back. He found himself face to face with Luhan, whose boyish face was scrunched up in something nonplussed. 

“The Vex attacked you,” The Warlock reminded Baekhyun in a low mutter, who reluctantly nodded. “What’s up with that? It wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“And it wouldn’t have happened,” Baekhyun concurred quietly. “But we should’ve probably seen it coming, too— they wouldn’t let me go without testing me. I had to try out the— the things. It wasn’t pleasant.”

Luhan’s brow furrowed. That was one of the usual suspects out of Baekhyun’s list— the scavenger didn’t think the other man had actually intended to send him into more danger and risk than he already was. His next question only confirmed his suspicions. “Who tested you?”

Baekhyun shrugged with a flourish, as he pulled away, and kept walking behind the Guardians.

“At this point, Luhan,” He replied plainly, “It just might’ve been me.”

Yixing was amazing company, too, even in the darkest of times.

In life, Jongok had been a beautiful woman. Awoken –even the most plain of them— were always ethereal, always enigmatic, always bewitching. Her lilac eyes had always shone with calculations and machinations more advanced than anything the most talented of her Hidden Agents could ever come up with. The centuries of building the Last City with her own hands had made her wise, even if a little cold and standoff-ish. Baekhyun supposed it made sense. As the Warlock Vanguard chosen right after Luhan had been exiled and stripped of his position, she had big shoes to fill. She also had great hair. 

In death, she was still beautiful. Even if her powder blue, nearly white skin had been so pale. Even if the last few weeks had clearly taken a toll on her body and mind. Only a day after she had died for the last time, she only looked like she had been sleeping, in the bedding of leaves and branches Jongin had laid down to heal yesterday. 

“What happened to her Ghost?” Baekhyun asked Yixing. The Hunter shook his head. 

“Xiumin said that when they came to Io, Jongok had already lost her,” Yixing answered grimly. “Probably back in the confusion of the invasion. She refused to look for her, even if Xiumin offered. She just wanted to come to Io as fast as possible.” 

Yixing ran a hand through his blond hair, sighing, deep in thought. Baekhyun watched him patiently, until the Hunter finally spoke again. 

“I wonder what drove her to this. What made her think that everything was lost so quickly? What did she see?” Yixing shook his head once more, as if trying to clear it. “Xiumin said she was really unstable. That they could hardly speak, by the end of it.” 

“I think,” Baekhyun suggested carefully. “That you aren’t too far off. That there’s more than what meets the eye to this whole war. More forces at play than we imagine.”

“Oh, definitely,” Yixing agreed quickly, looking at the scavenger with wonder. “But which ones? Is it the Darkness? Is it the Nine? Is it something else entirely? Is Dominus Ghaul just truly that formidable?”

Baekhyun shrugged. “Have you asked Luhan?” Yixing chuckled without humour.

“Luhan would lie to me,” The Hunter countered with certainty. “If he’s here now, it’s for Xiumin and no one else. It’s always been that way. Even if he knows, he won’t share— because it won’t be relevant, or it will upset the timeline we’re in, or some other bullshit.” 

There was silence between the two spies, then. Baekhyun watched Jongdae and Xiumin personally work on lifting Jongok’s body, and gingerly take her towards one of the cracks in the earth, which was filled to the brim with the Traveller’s energy. They had figured that would have been a good way to honour her— allow her to be as close to the Traveller as they could in the faraway moon. Allow her to melt into the strange plasma that had been left behind so many decades ago.

“What happened to your face, by the way?” Yixing asked suddenly. Baekhyun looked up in confusion and touched his face. When his fingers retreated, they were smudged with a little bit of blood. “You have a scratch on your cheek. It’s nothing serious, but you didn’t have it in the morning.” 

Baekhyun felt like crying, and it had nothing to do with the makeshift funeral they were witnessing.

“I just scratched myself, that’s all.” He replied curtly. Yixing hummed in understanding.

“I guess your nails are a bit long,” The Hunter commented, but he offered Baekhyun a small smile— misinterpreting his suddenly shiny eyes as grief for Jongok. “You’re like a baby who needs socks on their hands. Hey, it’s okay.” 

“It’s not, Yixing,” Baekhyun found himself confessing, voice cracking slightly. Yixing immediately wrapped an arm around the scavenger, comforting. “It’s really not.”

“Goodbye, Jongok Bae,” Xiumin was saying then, solemn and ceremoniously, as Jongok slowly sank into the plasma of Io. “Leader of the Hidden. Champion of the Crucible. Vanguard Warlock. And so much more.” 

Every Guardian and Ghost watched in a reverent silence as Jongok completely disappeared. It was a fast process, all in all. Once it was over, with tears also in his own eyes, Xiumin finally regarded the rest of them.

“We must remember now that we’re more than our Light,” The Warlock stated sombrely. “We are Guardians, and we _will_ not lose any other of our friends to this…” He snarled. “…Dominus Ghaul.” 

More than one of them nodded in agreement, grumbling, muttering among themselves. Xiumin watched them, and Baekhyun marvelled slightly at how the Xiumin _he_ had grown up admiring was returning. 

Xiumin was no longer lost and sad in Io, it seemed. 

“The Red Legion will take no more from us,” The Warlock declared. “And they will find no mercy in me!”

Xiumin, the legendary Guardian, was back. And as the Guardians around Baekhyun began cheering, he realised that soon, all of them would be restored to their full power once more— with or without the Light.

It made him proud. The tiniest smile made its way onto his face, and as he found himself locking eyes with Chanyeol, there was only a thought on his mind. 

This better had to be worth it. His life better be worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone! I'm sorry if this isn't packed with action or anything particularly interesting. I needed a little bit of filler, of injecting lore, and Shadowkeep fan-girling. Also, I struggled a lot with writing lately-- my thesis is haunting me, and I live in Chile, and if you're read the news you knowwwwwww that ain't good :( 
> 
> Still, I hope you do enjoy it, and I promise the next one will be better!


	9. well, then, i am the heresiarch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm backkkk

**ix. well, then, i am the heresiarch**

“This is like the start of a bad joke,” Baekhyun found himself starting, as soon as the four of them and their Ghosts were gathered in a circle inside his Häkke Vimana. “Four spies walk into a bar—”

“—Don’t even get to that punchline,” Kris interrupted, frowning at the scavenger, who grinned up at him deviously. “We have exactly three minutes before the rest think, ‘hey, that’s a weird group hanging out together when we’re supposed to leave’—”

“—So, let’s get to it, then,” Yixing cut in, setting a timer on his watch. “Though I personally wanted to hear the bad spy joke.”

“Aw, Lay,” Baekhyun cooed. “You only have to look around. _We_ are the bad spy joke.”

“Okay, enough,” Xiumin sentenced at last, with a deep sigh, as he bore his eyes into the late Warlock Vanguard’s tablet as if it held the secrets of the universe— and those secrets were written in an ancient, forgotten, and undecipherable language. “I can’t figure this out. How do I give myself Jongok’s Hidden permits? I need to demote Kris. I can’t do it as XIU-326.”

Behind him, Tan was watching her Guardian’s actions and seemed to have figured it out on her own. However, true to form, she restrained herself from saying anything. Kris rolled his eyes, while Baekhyun turned to give Yixing a look that plainly said, ‘see?’. Yixing chuckled. The Hunter Vanguard snatched the tablet from Xiumin, who almost pouted, as Kris scolded him.

“Minnie, in this day and age, you cannot be this incompetent with technology. Especially now that’s you’re a Vanguard. It’s really unbecoming.”

“Magic is just easier,” Xiumin retorted, and really, Baekhyun couldn’t see how magic was easier than technology. Magic made absolutely no sense. To each his own, he guessed. Kris grumbled for all answer, and after only a couple of swipes and taps, he was done. He handed the tablet back to Xiumin, unimpressed.

“There. I’m demoted,” The Hunter announced dispassionately. “And you’re promoted. BAE-006 and WU-611 have been deleted from the system, and XIU-326 is the new Hidden Leader.”

“You should ask Tan for help, next time,” Yixing suggested boldly, the aforementioned Ghost startling, while Xiumin glared at the Hunter. Yixing, however, didn’t wither under his gaze. “What? It’s also unbecoming our own Vanguard refuses to talk to their own Ghosts. What kind of Guardian example is that?”

Xiumin inhaled deeply, as if he was preparing to scream. Such shout never came. Instead, he muttered softly, eyes darting only for a moment to Tan. “It’s complicated. You know I didn’t ask for any of this. I would’ve never become Vanguard if I could help it.”

“And I wouldn’t be in Io herding Guardians like sheep if _I_ could help it, and yet, here we are.” Baekhyun chimed in blankly, as he stole a glance at Yixing’s watch. “Come on, Xiumin. Two minutes.”

“Back to business then,” The Vanguard sighed, and then steeled himself once more, as if he hadn’t admitted to such a weakness only a moment before. “We need to end the silence across our network, first things first. I wish I had done so before, but things… They were very strange. I will make a log— I’ll tell our agents what’s been happening and tell them to stay unseen and safe unless they plan on joining the resistance. Baekhyun, you should make your own log and update the situation of the little motley crew you’ve organised.”

“Sure,” The scavenger nodded. “They’re popular guys, aren’t they? That might spur others to join us in the EDZ. We need all the help that we can get.”

“In the meantime, Lay,” The Warlock turned to Yixing, who hummed in acknowledgement. “I’ve read your latest reports. I think you’re onto something— Ghaul doesn’t have any particularly superior technology to us. There was nothing in the Terrabase that suggested that. There’s no way he made it past our ISR network without some sort of external help— but that external help might’ve just come from our very own ranks.”

Baekhyun schooled his face into one of surprise and dread, though calculated. His blood did run cold, but it was out of fear of being caught. Xiumin merely continued speaking, unaware. “I need you to figure who’s the traitor. Keep it quiet, though. Whoever betrayed us, they clearly have some sort of access to the ISR, and probably our own logs.”

Baekhyun did his best to repress a wince. Yixing nodded gingerly.

“I feared as much,” The Hunter concurred. “I’ll keep it between the four of us, from now on. But we need to know that even the four of us are suspects.”

None of them said anything, other than exchange looks filled with meaning. Baekhyun cleared his throat, which was suddenly too dry. “One minute.”

“There’s other matters we need to worry about, too,” Xiumin began once more, “Like, for example, who is the Abyssal Champion and why is it following Baekhyun Byun across the system.”

“I was hoping you would’ve forgotten about that,” The grey-haired man admitted sheepishly. “But I’ll be glad to look into it.”

Xiumin shook his head, much to Baekhyun’s chagrin.

“Actually, what I need you to focus on, Byun, is on being a good leader in this resistance,” The Warlock corrected. “Kris will handle the Abyssal Champion’s true identity, and why isn’t it following Savathûn. But there is no hiding that you were there when no senior Guardian stepped up to the plate. These men here— they respect you. Kris and I, and Suho too, must still earn that respect.”

There was a warmth blossoming in Baekhyun’s stomach, right under all the anxiety. He attempted to protest, but Kris stopped him.

“I could ask Sehun Oh to pass me salt during dinner and I don’t think he would,” The black-haired Hunter remarked. “But you could tell him to jump off a cliff, and he would do so in a heartbeat, Baekhyun. The Traveller’s Chosen trusts your judgement and no one else’s.”

“You’ve only met him for a day,” Baekhyun retorted. “And you’ve had an attitude the whole time. He listened to Suho just fine!”

Kris scoffed. “Just help us out, Baekhyun. This is a tough crowd, and two out of three in the Vanguard weren’t exactly gagging for the position.”

Baekhyun was ready to argue –over exactly what, he wasn’t certain— but Cat interjected with a serious: “Thirty seconds, agents.”

“We still need to figure out who’d be a good replacement for Kris in the network,” Yixing reminded them. Baekhyun raised an eyebrow and took a tentative glance outside.

From his spot, he couldn’t really see any of the Guardians, even if he could hear them— Jongdae squawking about the crates of loot he had to somehow fit in his Arrowhawk, Kyungsoo questioning Luhan about why couldn’t they use Vex portals to just travel back in time and kill Ghaul last week, Jongin and Sehun playing around instead of working, Chanyeol grunting as he carried things back and forth. “Did you think someone from here, or just, in general?”

“Let’s start with what we have here,” Xiumin suggested. “Chen is a great option. He has connections already, is discreet—”

“—And also, you’re half in love with him.” Kris deadpanned, stopping the other Guardian in his tracks. Xiumin choked on his own spit, eyes widening in shock at being exposed so blatantly. Baekhyun broke into a grin of interest. “Teacher-student relationships are creepy, Minnie. Just so you know.”

“You were half in love with—” RouRou never got to finish his sentence, Kris shutting him up by grabbing the Ghost with his hand and covering him, as if he was nothing but a ball. His face was suddenly flushed.

“Let’s move on,” The Hunter grumbled. “Please.”

“I’d suggest you go with D.O or Kai,” Baekhyun attempted to get back on track, awkward. “The network is way too heavy on Warlocks and Hunters, anyway. D.O is very interested in intel, and Kai talks to fucking Rasputin. Plus, how many problematic groups are detected in the Crucible first? You’d want eyes and ears there.”

“Ten seconds now,” Yixing chimed in. “And I’ll finish by suggesting Tao. Maybe’s he’s not that guarded, or secretive, but the boy’s a great fighter and has a direct line with the Reef. That would’ve saved us a lot of trouble many times.”

“All of them are great options,” Kris declared, looking over his shoulder, and then casually stepping away from them as Yixing’s timer went off and the blond Hunter shut it off. “Let’s sleep on it.”

The Hunter Vanguard left the Häkke Vimana without another word, Ghost still in his hand, RouRou’s muffled voice screaming to be let out and that he was sorry. Good riddance. Kris was busy barking orders at Jongin and Sehun, demanding that they get back to work. They didn’t seem to suspect anything.

There was nothing to suspect, really. Yixing had dragged Baekhyun away after Jongok’s speedy ceremony, using the scavenger’s distraught demeanour in their favour. Kris, of course, had trailed after them on the pretence on checking on Baekhyun, like the good makeshift big brother he always tried to be, even jealously refusing Chanyeol’s help. Xiumin had joined them when the opportunity presented itself, claiming that they needed to be called to order so they could finally leave for Earth.

Guardians were really unobservant when they wanted to be. Baekhyun wouldn’t tire of saying that.

Xiumin gave Yixing and the non-Guardian a nod. “Get this ship ready. It looks like some sort of summer camp cabin. We need to meet Suho as soon as we can.”

The Warlock left after Kris, immediately heading towards the Mayfly. Baekhyun watched as Jongdae and Luhan both followed after Xiumin, catching up and talking to him all at once. What a bother love triangles were.

Yixing used their solitude to smile at Baekhyun, kind and sweet as he tended to be. He squeezed the scavenger’s shoulder, and Baekhyun smiled back.

“Are you feeling any better?” The blond asked sincerely and frowned when Baekhyun shook his head silently. “Should I tell you a bad spy joke? They cheer me up.”

“I’ll be fine without one, thanks,” He commented drily, as he moved away with a chuckle to prepare the Häkke Vimana for take-off. Baekhyun vaguely wondered who would travel with him this time around, even if it was only for as long as Luhan’s portal would take them. “Xiumin can’t be thinking straight if he wants me to be any sort of leader for these guys. It’s about time the real Guardians take over, don’t you think? Not keep dragging me into it.”

“I think you make a swell leader, Captain!” Mongryong exclaimed cheerily. He had been silent through the meeting, and Baekhyun knew his little drone was still reeling from the Pyramidion. Mongryong had to be making an effort, after what he had seen. His emotional modules were quite sensitive, Baekhyun had learnt. “And for what you’ve relayed to me, I’m certain you have dragged yourself into this!”

“Whose side are you on, Mongryong?” Baekhyun countered without heat. He liked that all his efforts were being recognised— he loved it, really. However, the guilt he felt was making it hard for him to enjoy it properly. Not to mention that the unofficial position wouldn’t give him much time to cover any tracks he had made and was bound to keep making. With Kris and Yixing both unknowingly on his case, things were just going to get harder for him.

But Yixing, by his side, still trusting him, still unaware, merely shrugged with a relaxed smile.

“I agree with Mongryong, Baekhyun. This fireteam trusts you. They’re all known back in the Last City for being a bit difficult.” The Hunter mused. “I don’t like to speak ill of other Guardians, so I won’t. But it’s been a long time since Guardians have come together like this. We were all caught up doing our own thing, whatever it was for each of us.”

Baekhyun only smiled sympathetically, and Yixing returned it, capturing the hidden meaning behind it. Baekhyun had always found it easy to talk to Yixing, since Kris had introduced them— the other man was level-headed and thoughtful. He had always enjoyed shooting off ideas with the man, talking endlessly about their work and their lives over a good drink. Or, lately, in the middle of fighting aliens in foreign planets.

Yixing, Baekhyun knew, felt the same way. He began helping Baekhyun around the Häkke Vimana, putting away mats and blankets and making the craft seem a little less messy, despite having his own ship to tend to— all for the opportunity of a conversation.

“I think you’ll do well, leading them. Us,” He continued softly. “This whole time, you’ve been doing so in spite of every instinct you have. It’s not hard to see how they first turn to you, and then the Vanguard. It’ll make for interesting developments when we take back the City.”

Baekhyun laughed heartily. “I’ll make myself scarce before that happens. Though I hardly think it’s _that_ serious.”

Yixing looked at Cat, and Cat looked at Yixing. After a small pause, the blond spy shrugged.

“I’d be careful,” Yixing finally said. “I’m not certain that these Guardians know when to draw the line. I’m not certain where any of their minds are, to be honest. And if I’m even more honest, it terrifies me to think that one of us is a traitor.”

The scavenger pursed his lips. He levelled Yixing with a grim expression, and then sighed.

“The traitor may not be among them. But maybe it’s not wise to talk about this,” Baekhyun suggested seriously. “I don’t think you should be trusting anyone with something so sensitive. Not even me.”

“C’mon,” The Hunter waved it off, ignorant that Baekhyun’s worries were only worsened by the gesture. “I know I can talk to you.”

“Can you?” Baekhyun questioned, cocking his head to the side.

Yixing nodded with a smirk. “It’s only a working theory, but I’m pretty certain that this was done by an actual Guardian. You’re safe.”

“Oh, I’m not good enough to betray the Last City now?” Baekhyun joked, though it was only a half-joke. It still made Yixing and Cat both laugh.

“You’d make a great rat, Baekhyun,” Cat reassured him kindly. “But this was an insider job. You’re not an insider. You just can’t shut down the ISR on your own. You don’t have that kind of access.”

Baekhyun shuffled his feet, attempting at least some sort of snort, but it came out as a small sound. “I guess you’re right. Well, anyway. Don’t you have a ship to fly?”

Yixing nodded again as he stood up and walked out of the Häkke Vimana. “I do! I guess I should get going. If you need anything, just let me know. Oh! I just realised this will be the first time I’ll see the Byun farm! That’s so exciting, right? I can’t wait to meet Taehyung properly. See you down there, Baekhyunnie!”

And then Yixing and Cat were gone, off to the Holacanthus, and Baekhyun deflated with relief of being finally alone. Mongryong was still uncharacteristically silent. Baekhyun didn’t blame him. Still, he had to ask, and after biting his bottom lip for a moment, he ventured a soft: “Are you okay, Mongryong?”

There was silence. The only sound came from Guardians milling about outside— Xiumin and Kris were giving out some sort of parting speech. For a moment, Baekhyun contemplated he should be out there as well, but quickly discarded the idea. They would leave soon. He wasn’t a Guardian.

“How did you even get inside my memories like that, Captain?” Mongryong finally spoke, pensively, with a question of his own. There was something merry in his tone anyway, but it was overwhelmed by how deep into thought the not-quite-Ghost was. “You have access to them if you ask, but you haven’t asked. I checked.”

Baekhyun didn’t answer, trying to figure it out himself. He pulled on a stray thread on his poncho. He found himself undoing the sewing he had done only a few days earlier, before they had left the EDZ. Mongryong continued.

“I do not understand what Nightmares are, exactly. I can only assume they are a collection of your worst fears, fuelled by the Darkness. Is it a safe hypothesis, Captain?”

“It seems so,” Baekhyun conceded gently. “They’re phantoms of the past. _My_ phantoms. And I guess they also pack a punch, but that’s likely because I’ve made them to be very belligerent. In the next nights, they will torment me for even using them like this.”

“If they’re _your_ phantoms,” Mongryong followed, “Why were mine there, too?”

Baekhyun only took a hand to rub his eyes, to avoid a new flurry of tears. His throat tightened with a knot. Mongryong didn’t deserve to be confronted so painfully with his losses— yet he was inextricably bound to Baekhyun, now.

The heavy atmosphere was broken by Sehun and Jongin knocking on the side of the Häkke Vimana, and Baekhyun looked up. Grinned a boxy smile, although he doubted how authentic it looked. Sehun had that unreadable expression he put on default, though his eyes shone with a question. Jongin looked sweet and shy, cautious.

“Hey,” Baekhyun greeted the two young Guardians. Jongin smiled, while Sehun raised his eyebrows at the scavenger in lieu of a salute.

“Hey, Baekhyun,” Jongin greeted back. “We were wondering if we could hitch a ride with you.”

“Sure,” The grey-haired man agreed quickly. “Is Chanyeol coming?”

He regretted his question immediately. Both boys smirked and looked at each other, almost like twins, mischievous and playful and smug. Baekhyun’s cheeks coloured, but he cleared his throat to attempt to save face. “I mean, since he’s been riding with me—”

Jongin let out a breathy guffaw. Sehun’s smirk widened with satisfaction. As if on cue, Chanyeol popped from behind them, looking only a bit hysterical.

“It’s not that I don’t want to!” Chanyeol was rushing out. “I do! I really, really do! It’s just, D.O and Chen, they want to talk to me, and I really need to talk to them, and it’s just for a little while, right, you’ll be okay, it’s not like you’ll die in the five minutes it’ll take us to cross a portal—”

“—Hopefully, yeah,” Baekhyun quipped, unable to keep himself from smiling fondly, even if a bit embarrassed. He was disappointed that Chanyeol wasn’t travelling with him this time around, but at the same time, they were not really dating or anything similar, right? They just cuddled. And had feelings. Chanyeol was allowed to be with his friends, anyway. It was totally okay. Yeah. “It’s fine, really. I’ll have Sehunnie and Kai to keep me company, anyway.”

‘Sehunnie and Kai’ looked awfully pleased with themselves, while Chanyeol only looked kind of worried. Was it because he didn’t feel okay leaving Baekhyun on his own because he had been crying, because of the infection, or because of his puppy crush? Baekhyun couldn’t tell. Sehun and Jongin had a clear idea on their minds, though.

“I’m gonna kiss one of Baekhyun’s moles, Chanyeol,” Sehun warned, deadly serious, and the Titan’s eyes widening. “Which one do you recommend?”

Chanyeol turned beet red. “What are you on about—”

“—I’d begin with the one on his cheek, to be very tender and sweet,” Jongin suggested with no emotion, but the mockery and teasing were clear. Even Baekhyun rolled his eyes. Sehun followed through with a bold, “I’d kiss the one over his lip. Right in for the kill.”

“I don’t mind!” Chanyeol was quick to respond, even if he didn’t look like he didn’t mind, red. “Why would I mind? What moles are you talking about? I haven’t noticed anything on Baekhyun.”

“I beg to differ,” Jongin countered. “Kyungsoo begs to differ. Jongdae begs to differ. Everyone begs—”

“—Okay, that’s enough,” Baekhyun snapped, pointing the Ace of Spades at Jongin and then at Sehun threateningly, though he didn’t actually mean it. Or did he? “You want to ride with me? Stop talking about any part of my body like I’m a prize, or I’m making sure both of you get stranded here.”

Properly chastised, Jongin pouted, Adam’s apple bobbing with a hard swallow. Sehun raised his hands as if surrendering, but he still looked quite defiant, with a subtle simper. Chanyeol, who hadn’t managed to keep blood out of his cheeks, made a pointing gesture to the two younger Guardians.

“You heard Baekhyun!” The Titan exclaimed, flustered but managing somehow to sound firm. “Stop playing around, we need to leave!”

“ _Baekhyun_ ,” A voice crackled through the Häkke Vimana’s radio. It was a peeved-sounding Kyungsoo. “ _Tell Chanyeol to get his ass over here right now_.”

“ _We’re only waiting on you two, love birds_ ,” Jongdae pointed out as well. “ _Ghaul will have taken over the rest of Earth by the time we reach the EDZ at this rate._ ”

Chanyeol practically bolted out to Jongdae’s Arrowhawk without saying goodbye, Jongin and Sehun unable to keep down their cackling. Baekhyun ignored them, even if a smile tugged at the corners of his lips, as he finally closed up the Häkke Vimana’s doors.

“Well, we’re done playing now,” He announced through the comm, as he sat down on the cockpit at last and started up the ship. He signalled Jongin and Sehun to get in position as well, and Sehun immediately took the co-pilot’s seat. He grinned at Baekhyun with excitement. “Man, aren’t you glad we’re leaving this moon?”

Xiumin grumbled on the other side. “ _Tell me about it. I’m never coming back to Io._ ”

“ _As soon as we’re on the air, I’ll open a portal that will takes us straight to the European Dead Zone,_ ” Luhan informed the rest of them. “ _We’ll be there in ten minutes at most_.”

Doing a trip that would usually take over twenty hours in only ten minutes sounded like a great idea. If Baekhyun was thankful for anything Luhan had done since joining their party, it had to be cutting down on their travelling times so much. As he took the Häkke Vimana up in sync with Jongdae’s Arrowhawk, Yixing’s Holacanthus, and Xiumin’s Mayfly, he sighed with relief at the idea of Baekbeom, Yeongja, and Taehyung waiting at the farm.

“You seem happy,” Sehun commented. Baekhyun hummed and nodded.

“I’m ready to see my family again,” The scavenger admitted easily. “I figured I wouldn’t come back.”

Sehun frowned at that, as if Baekhyun was confusing him. It made his face scrunch up cutely. “Why wouldn’t you? You’re with me.”

Baekhyun snorted. Jongin seemed to think it was amusing too, as he called from behind them. “Real funny, Sehun. We’ve just been through three different planets in two days. I’ve definitely shot at more than a hundred aliens.”

“It’s four planets for the Captain!” Mongryong corrected. “That is without adding the unquantifiable and undecipherable Vex dimensions of the Pyramidion, of course.”

“That’s fucking right,” Baekhyun agreed. “We’ve found a new Hive sect, saved Kris from the Vex, met _the_ Luhan from the Cult of Luhan, talked to Rasputin, stopped Taken rituals, had dates, and so much more. I’m _exhausted_.”

“And it’s not over yet,” Monggu reminded him a bit gloomily. The Ghost seemed to value his sleep quite a lot— Baekhyun could relate. “We still need to take back the City. And follow all of Rasputin’s instructions to dismantle the Almighty without triggering a mass extinction event.”

“Instructions from Rasputin?” Baekhyun repeated with interest. “He had more to share?”

“Yeah,” Jongin replied with a sigh.

“Get this, Baekhyunnie,” Sehun chimed in, hitting Baekhyun’s arm lightly. “Rasputin always knew Jongin here was around. And he wanted to talk to _him_ , not to you. So, that’s why Rasputin neutralised you and was so vague.”

The grey-haired man couldn’t help but to laugh at that— did Luhan’s influence really reach even Warminds? Rasputin couldn’t have been clearer the first time around. Even Sehun had hypothesised about how it seemed the AI had encountered the Darkness, rather than Baekhyun. But he wasn’t about to expose himself if they didn’t see what was right in front of them.

And besides— Jongin did have a lot of history with Rasputin. It wasn’t that crazy to think the Warmind wanted to talk to the Titan and no one else.

“What did Rasputin have to say to Jongin, then?” He humoured the Guardians. In the open sky of Io, which still shone with the liberated energy of the Traveller, right in front of them, a small triangle began opening into black nothingness, and then, a familiar blue planet.

“He was angry that I sent you instead of coming myself,” Jongin explained timidly. “But he said that he still gave you a little hint. He explained that the Almighty could be disabled without being destroyed. That we could just… Disconnect it from the Sun. That we were stupid for considering doing it any other way.”

“Fun fact: Warminds are notoriously temperamental!” Mongryong supplied cheerfully. “It is really no wonder!”

“Wow,” Sehun interjected in his own wonder, as he watched the portal grow exponentially before them. It was the biggest one Luhan had pulled off just yet— enough for the four ships to go through without any issues. Earth was beautiful from this point of view, even with the influx of Cabal warships over the region of the Himalayas and the Traveller. “I know this is like, my fifth Luhan portal, but this is awesome.”

“What wouldn’t I give to travel through space and time like that,” Baekhyun confessed. He had yet to see Luhan using the dice the Guardians had mentioned the Warlock used to conjure these rifts, and he was deathly curious about them. He imagined ways in which he could get Luhan to show him, when almost a second later, the brunet man was speaking through the radio.

“ _It’s ready,_ ” Luhan claimed, smug. He had to be teasing Xiumin, surely. “ _You’re free to go to the other side_.”

“ _Pilots,_ ” Kris called. “ _Be extremely careful. Avoid any contact with Cabal ships. Take the long way to Europe if you must. Let’s not get detected on our way in, okay_?”

“ _Will do, Kris_.” Jongdae answered seriously, followed by an equally concentrated Yixing: “ _Of course._ ”

Baekhyun made a noncommittal sound, although it was just to tease. “No promises, guys. I’m itching for a space fight.”

Kris groaned _._ It was Xiumin who intervened, stern. “ _We don’t need that shit, Byun. This portal is bound to attract enough attention_.”

“We’ll have to wait and see for that,” Baekhyun whispered, turning off the radio. Sehun raised his eyebrows at him questioningly and shared a look with Jongin.

As they crossed from Io’s atmosphere to the orbit of Earth, reality blurred at the edges before settling once more into the familiarity of empty space. Yixing tipped his Holacanthus downwards, and Baekhyun followed, tacitly separating themselves from Jongdae’s and Xiumin’s crafts. They would fly into Europe from the Atlantic, it seemed.

Once the route was set and Cabal warships seemed far enough, Baekhyun toyed with his radio, changing the channels and going through static multiple times. “Does anyone here speak Cabal?”

“A little bit,” Vivi admitted reluctantly. “What do you need me for?”

“Cabal probably think they already won the war, if they even consider this an actual war and not a conquest,” Baekhyun reasoned, the fingers of his free hand tapping the steering wheel of the Häkke Vimana, while his other hand tinkered with the radio. “They’ll probably be having unprotected, decrypted conversations. And I wanna listen in.”

He was rewarded with the harsh, almost metallic syllables of Cabal-speak mere seconds later. The scavenger grinned as he looked over to Vivi. “This is your moment to shine, Vivi!”

“It’s always Vivi’s moment to shine,” Sehun deadpanned, but he still watched with interest as his Ghost listened in, focused. Jongin, also finding himself fascinated by the strange transmission, got up from his seat to kneel by Baekhyun and Sehun.

“How can they be so careless?” The Titan wondered in a whisper, as not to distract Vivi. “Just chatting in an open radio channel like this. I thought they were supposed to be military geniuses?”

Baekhyun didn’t answer. Whatever the Cabal creatures, whoever they were, were saying was gibberish to him— yet he still listened as if he could decipher it himself. The only Cabal that had been around the Sol System before the Red Legion had made their home in Mars— in a place that was referred to often as the Exclusion Zone. There, fractioned factions of Cabal fought for the territory against each other.

Nobody survived entering the Exclusion Zone. Baekhyun, surprisingly, had never had a death wish so intense as to visit it, just to understand the Cabal. Not that the Cabal held the same fears. The scavenger had heard rumours about Psions who infiltrated as Guardians in the Crucible regularly to gain intel on the Tower. Lord Donghae ought to be stricter on _who_ could participate on the Crucible, really.

But he was rambling. He turned his attention to Vivi, who was humming deep in thought, as three pairs and two singular eyes stared at him. The Cabal were laughing. It was a heavy sound, if Baekhyun had to give it an adjective.

“They’re boasting,” Vivi finally declared. “They keep talking about a fire and a base, and about the City and how easy it was to take it. They mention the Traveller a lot. They keep saying something’s unbroken. Uhm. This _really_ would be easier if we just recorded them and performed a linguistic analysis.”

“Do not worry, Friendly Ghost!” Mongryong exclaimed with merriment. “I have already connected to the Captain’s radio and have been recording everything since the beginning! The linguistic analysis you desire is being performed as we speak!”

If Vivi could frown, he would have been frowning. Monggu snorted, making Vivi seem to grumble even more.

“What? Shut up! If you were performing the analysis, why didn’t you say so, Mongryong?!” Vivi complained.

“I saw no point in disallowing the Friendly Ghost to show off his subpar Cabal speaking abilities!” Mongryong answered happily. Maybe a little mockingly. It was hard to tell with the drone. Vivi gasped in offense, and Monggu snorted harder.

“No wonder Ink likes you. You’re exactly his type,” Jongin’s Ghost quipped, half-annoyed and half-pleased. Sehun and Jongin shared secret grins of amusement, careful not to offend their Ghosts, while Baekhyun’s shoulders shook with laughter.

“Aw, thank you!” Mongryong expressed with delight. “Oh! The Cabal have ceased their conversations!”

Indeed, the Cabal officials had stopped talking, though Baekhyun hadn’t been able to make out any sort of parting words. Aliens never followed the same communication rules. It bothered Baekhyun. “Analysis in procedure!” Mongryong announced, right as the Häkke Vimana broke into the atmosphere of Earth over the olden British Isles. The craft shook violently as they crossed in.

After a small wince, Sehun looked forward towards the faraway continent, squinting. Whatever was on his mind, he didn’t share, though Jongin opened his mouth to ask what he was looking at, most likely. They never got to hear it— Mongryong spoke up again.

“Analysis complete! Captain, I have terrible news!” The not-quite-AI proclaimed in a tone that was somehow distressed and cheery all at once. “It seems to be that the Cabal have established a firebase in the European Dead Zone, led by a lieutenant who goes by the name of Thumos, the Unbroken!”

A firebase in the EDZ?

“Wait, what?” Baekhyun remembered Guardian CL suspecting Cabal activities taking place in the EDZ— however, a whole firebase, with how gigantic and ridiculous they tended to be if Terrabase Charon was anything to go by, seemed almost impossible. “That wasn’t there when we left.”

“They must’ve built it right under our noses,” Jongin proposed grimly. “It’s not like we ever ventured from the Farm. And the EDZ is a big area.”

“Someone noticed, though,” Sehun said, eyes still locked forward to the ground and oceans that seemed closer and closer. “Someone from the Farm. And they died for their trouble.”

Baekhyun and Jongin stared at Sehun with trepidation. “How do you even know that?”

“I just do.” Sehun murmured. The expression on his face reminded Baekhyun of the one Sehun wore during the first days in the Farm— staring into the horizon, unreachable. No matter, because the Hunter had just said the most alarming thing ever.

Baekbeom and Yeongja were the first people to flash through Baekhyun’s mind, followed closely by Taeyeon, by Taehyung, by Tiffany, by RM, by Heechul, even by Hodong. His hands tightened over the steering wheel, until his knuckles turned white.

“Unfortunately, Guardian Sehun is right,” Mongryong confirmed with energy. “This Thumos, the Unbroken found a fireteam trying to scout them and neutralised them through fatal means! However, they seem to be unaware of the existence of a Farm, or if the fireteam came from there at all!”

That wasn’t much consolation. Baekhyun’s bare, gloveless hands were shaking too obviously as he reached for the radio again, now changing to the channels he often shared with Baekbeom.

“Baekhyunnie to Baekbeommie, Baekhyunnie to Baekbeommie,” Baekhyun called out into the static nothingness. “You better be fucking there, asshole.”

There was only silence on the other side, tension rising in the Häkke Vimana. Sehun slipped out of his reverie for only long enough to grab onto Baekhyun’s hand and squeeze comfortingly. Jongin squeezed Baekhyun’s shoulders. Baekhyun only called Baekbeom’s name again and again, serious and plain.

He checked his watch after two minutes of flying without response— it was almost five in the afternoon in the Farm. Baekbeom could, realistically, just be away from the kitchen and therefore the radio. Yeongja and he were probably outside working. Not for the first time in their life, Baekhyun cursed radios.

There were no other people –that they knew of— in the EDZ. Their only neighbour was a hermit. It was a Dead Zone. Other refugee camps had ventured to other continents, as far as they could be from the Red Legion. Others had chosen to stay in Asia, forever careful of the enemy shadow. The Byun Farm was supposed to be isolated, for miles and miles that composed countries dissolved long ago.

Whatever fireteam had ventured into whatever base the Cabal had _had_ to be from the Farm. But Baekbeom wouldn’t be so stupid. He was a family man. He had a lot to lose. He wouldn’t go scout it, would he?

It was Kris’s voice that snapped Baekhyun out of it.

“ _Baekhyun, we’ll be there soon_ ,” The Hunter Vanguard stated. “ _You don’t have to call obsessively like that_.”

“Yes, I do,” Baekhyun countered, strained. He didn’t want the reason that he never saw his family again to be because _they_ were dead, rather than he. “We just listened to a really bad Cabal transmission.”

“ _A Cabal transmission_?” Jongdae questioned in surprise. “ _In the open like that_?”

“ _They must be getting cocky,_ ” Xiumin suggested. “ _And to be honest, they have every reason to be. We haven’t done a single thing to truly push back._ _What were the Cabal saying_?”

Baekhyun signalled Mongryong to talk, not really trusting himself. He felt faint, like he had so many times in these past few days. He just hoped he didn’t black out while flying. He swallowed heavily.

“The Kris Wu, Guardians, friendly Ghosts,” Mongryong greeted. “The Red Legion has established a firebase in the European Dead Zone, under the command of a Lieutenant Thumos, the Unbroken. This Unbroken person has apparently killed off a fireteam who attempted to scout the area. While there is no evidence that they are aware of the Farm we are flying to, the Captain is visibly concerned!”

“ _Baekhyun, they’re all probably fine,_ ” Jongdae attempted in a soft voice. “ _They have to be_.”

Baekhyun didn’t answer, just squeezing Sehun’s hand as if accusing him of something and asking for his consolation at the same time. Sehun didn’t react much. Jongin took it upon himself to answer instead.

“Yeah, about that,” The redhead’s eyes darted from Baekhyun to Sehun as if trying to gauge which one of them was actually a good travelling companion right now. At least Baekhyun was still flying expertly, moving into Europe from the ocean as he separated his path from the Holacanthus. It was better if they all arrived separately. “Sehun says there’s dead people. I think he’s on vision mode.”

“ _Kai, don’t let Baekhyun do anything rash_.” Kris commanded, and uhm, rude? Baekhyun wasn’t about to do anything rash.

“I’m not about to do anything rash,” Baekhyun retorted childishly. Kris didn’t even dignify him with an answer.

“ _The rest of you, stay alert. We’re about to fly into a probably Cabal-infested area. If we don’t want to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves or the Byun farm, we’ll have to be extremely careful._ ” 

“I’m always way more careful than you,” Baekhyun continued to argue. “Who got stuck in a non-linear Vex loop like an amateur? _You_. Who kinda totally rallied Guardians into a resistance effort like an absolute legend? _Me._ ”

“That’s my Captain!” Mongryong cheered while Jongin laughed, a bit relieved.

“ _Whatever_ ,” Kris grumbled. “ _Just be careful_.”

Oh, Baekhyun was going to be careful. Careful about getting to Baekbeom as fast as he could. It would only take a few minutes to reach the EDZ, with how quick jumpships these days were— yet not quick enough for Baekhyun. His foot was so heavy on the accelerating pedal that it hurt, and without any other answer on his radio, there was nothing to focus on but on flying.

Sehun wasn’t speaking at all, while Baekhyun absentmindedly heard as Jongin attempted to contact the farm from his own personal comm. Bless his heart, really. Baekhyun couldn’t shake the feeling of faintness, of anxiety, of trepidation from himself. He feared one of his episodes— this wasn’t the time for any Darkness, but he could feel it coming over him.

As they finally, _finally_ crossed into the EDZ, the stormy Shard of the Traveller coming into view, Baekhyun breathed a sigh of relief. There were hands on his shoulders, almost in a comforting massage, and Baekhyun turned his head to look at who he thought was Jongin— instead, he found himself jumping in a startle and swerving the Häkke Vimana jarringly, when he saw the Titan all the way on the back of the craft.

Baekhyun quickly turned forward again, swallowing harshly. This was fine. They knew this would happen— Luhan had warned him the hallucinations would get worse even if his control over the Darkness got better. Jongin, Mongryong, Vivi, and Monggu all complained about the sudden shift, while Sehun only looked over at Baekhyun.

“Sorry, I’m a little bit shaky,” The scavenger deflected. He pried his hand from Sehun’s own slowly, putting it on the steering wheel. “Any useful insights, Sehunnie?”

Sehun blinked at him a couple of times, as if willing away a fog of some sort. The Hunter shook his head, seeming more like the bratty Guardian Baekhyun had gotten used to and less like the enigmatic Nightstalker he was supposed to be.

“It’s the Shard,” The black-haired boy announced sadly. “It’s like it has so many things to share. But it’s just too much information— I can’t make sense of any of it. I can’t tell who went into the firebase, even if it keeps trying to tell me. I’m sorry, Baekhyun.”

“This happens too often,” Vivi offered with regret. “I wish we could be more useful.”

“Don’t be sorry,” The scavenger reassured him. “It’s Baekbeom’s own damn fault he doesn’t answer his radio. We’re only a couple of minutes away, anyway. Any luck, Jongin?”

Jongin answered from the back. “Nothing yet! Lord Donghae isn’t answering, either. But hey— we know why. Something’s blocking their signals completely. A cloak, kinda like the Fallen’s.”

Baekhyun perked up. He turned on his radio once more, as they passed the salt mines of Trostland. If he squinted from here, he should’ve been able to see the Farm, but it was missing from sight. A lightbulb went off in his head.

“Fucking assholes,” He grumbled, and broadcasted towards the others. “They must’ve cloaked the entire Farm.”

Lay’s Holacanthus, faster than Baekhyun’s Häkke Vimana, passed them closely. Yixing laughed, and somewhere else, Jongdae breathed out a cackle.

“ _Couldn’t they have let us know_?!” The Warlock complained loudly, even though he sounded more at ease. “ _That’s probably the reason we can’t even contact them._ _The cloaking must be too strong_.”

“ _It’s most likely due to the Cabal firebase,_ ” Xiumin hypothesised. “ _If it’s so close and someone already died, then they’d want to stay as hidden as possible_.”

Baekhyun didn’t have a second to add anything, as he spotted three small, red Cabal jumpships coming out of the trees, coming straight for them. Threshers. “Shit, now we have company, too!”

“Warning, Captain!” Mongryong said happily. “The Cabal will crush you!”

Threshers were heavy ships— slow, and therefore, no match to catch up with crafts such as the Arrowhawk, the Holacanthus, or the Mayfly. Jongdae and Xiumin had taken a different route, anyway, unseen. The three ships were built for speed, while Threshers were built for fights.

Unfortunately for Jongin, Sehun, and Baekhyun— the Häkke Vimana was just as heavy, while hardly holding the same firepower.

Possibly taking them for an easy target, only one Thresher went after Baekhyun’s ship, while the other two headed for Yixing. It was Sehun who was calling out through the radio before Baekhyun had the chance. “Lay, don’t go near the Farm. You’ve got two Threshers on your tail right now.”

“ _I can see them_ ,” Yixing agreed, veering the Holacanthus sharply back into the direction of Trostland, as Baekhyun did the same. “ _I’m gonna do my best to shoot them down._ ”

“We’ve managed to find a way through the signal block!” Jongin reported with excitement. “Monggu’s letting them know we’re here, but it’s gonna take a few minutes!”

“ _We’re on the opposite direction of you,_ ” Jongdae reminded them. “ _You can drive the Threshers towards us, and we can ambush them_.”

Baekhyun hummed in disapproval, as he himself dove into the forest the Threshers had come out of with his own Cabal ship after him, while Yixing went for the salt mines. “Maybe Lay can do that. This piece of shit can’t fly that fast—”

The Thresher was shooting. Baekhyun felt its bullets graze the side of the old craft, and he winced as Sehun grabbed onto the armrests of his seat.

“Captain, I suggest activating the rear defence system, lest you wish the Cabal succeed in blowing us out of the sky!” Mongryong exclaimed cheerily. Baekhyun laughed awkwardly, manoeuvring with difficulty through trees and actually only half-succeeding— the harsh pines kept hitting the Häkke Vimana, which trembled violently as they passed them, the sound loud and metallic.

“That system has been out of commission since _forever_ ,” He revealed, cursing himself for putting it off for so long. Baekbeom always scolded him for that. “We _can’t_ really defend ourselves, unless I fly this thing backwards and shoot at the same time.”

“That is very irresponsible, Captain!” Mongryong replied with enthusiasm. “And to think you are the most competent human I have come across in four hundred and ninety-seven years!”

Suddenly, Sehun jumped out of his seat.

“I have an idea,” The Hunter claimed seriously, and Baekhyun heard grunts as Sehun helped Jongin up. “Baekhyun, open the door.”

“Where’s the Two-Tailed Fox, Baekhyun?” Jongin asked, seemingly catching Sehun’s drift instantly. “Oh— here it is. Never mind, Baekhyun, keep flying.”

“ _One of our Threshers is down_ ,” Yixing announced. “ _Baekhyun, what’s your status_?”

“The Guardians have a terrible plan, and I’m so down with it,” Baekhyun stated as he realised what Sehun and Jongin were planning, hearing them scuffle in the back. “Hold tight, guys!”

He pressed a button and the door to the Häkke Vimana opened, gusts of cool European wind hitting his bare hands and face harshly. He had to yell to make himself heard through the comm. “We’ll get back at these space rhinos!”

“ _What the fuck did I say about doing something rash_?” Kris demanded, voice already sounding far away anyway. It was the perfect excuse.

“I can’t hear you! You’re being cut off!” Baekhyun yelled, and then began making static noises with his mouth. It was only a half-lie, anyway. He could hardly hear anything over the wind, and Sehun and Jongin bickering about who would shoot what in the back. Neither Titan nor Hunter could really catch their balance, either, with how erratically Baekhyun was flying to avoid bullets and try –and fail— to miss trees. The other Guardians were also speaking and yelling in the radio, but it was merely background noise between the wind and the pines and the bullets.

“Baekhyun!” Jongin screamed. “We need you to line up with the Thresher just for a few seconds!”

“A few seconds is all it needs to kill us if we stay still!” Baekhyun retorted as loudly as he could. “You’ve got one shot, Guardians!”

“One shot’s all _we_ need!” Sehun yelled back, and, well, Baekhyun would just have to trust him.

Sighing dramatically even if no one could really hear him, the scavenger lifted the Häkke Vimana, so they would find themselves over the trees rather than between them. It stopped the terrible noise of branches— however, it also left them unprotected. The Thresher seemed to take the bait, following along, still shooting at its now clear target. Sehun and Jongin yelled as they took cover, while Baekhyun shrunk on his seat as best as he could. He found himself with a lapful of Vivi and Mongryong, who chose to hide with him.

There was a small burst of electricity in the dashboard in front of him, as a bullet impacted right into the sound system. The system spurted, and the craft began playing a mellow, distorted tune instead— _it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas_ , the Häkke Vimana sang, and another bullet hit it, and oh, this was a mess.

“The shot is now, guys!” Baekhyun cried out over the chaos. Another bullet grazed his arm as it hit the dashboard once more, and he groaned, but held on to the controls, steadfast. This time, the Thresher had gotten his air conditioning. A small loss, he figured, if the Guardians just got their shit together right the fuck now. “Come on! What are you waiting for?!”

He turned to look back at Jongin and Sehun. Flying in a straight, clean line wasn’t hard, and it was a task that didn’t need his undivided attention.

That was extremely fortunate, because Baekhyun found himself instantly enraptured as Sehun’s lanky form was engulfed with the purple haze of Void energy, materialising into a powerful bow and arrows of pure, concentrated Light. The Nightstalker wasted no time and shot the ethereal arrows towards critical points of the Threshers— its exposed gun, one of its motors, and the front windshield. Each exploded spectacularly, as the distorted music of the Häkke Vimana claimed _the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be on your own front door_.

Jongin was not about to be outdone. The Titan had the Two-Tailed Fox in position, seemingly waiting for Sehun to give out the first attack. He fired the rocket launcher with the outstanding precision that characterised him, reloading quickly as the double fire from the weapon travelled across the sky to crash into the Thresher— Solar impact from the right, and Void from the left.

The Thresher couldn’t withstand that. The Cabal warship blew up, lighting up the sky with an unnatural orange, as it fell towards the forest below. Baekhyun, almost overwhelmed with elation and awe at how _fucking cool_ Guardians were, turned back to the front, grinning maniacally.

“Is it over?” Vivi asked meekly from his lap.

“It’s over,” Baekhyun reassured the little light, unable to keep the pride out of his voice.

“ _That ambush plan was great_ —” A warped voice that could’ve easily been Jongdae or Yixing or Kyungsoo or Xiumin or Luhan or Kris or even Chanyeol said through the comm. “ _Baekhyun, what’s going on there?_ ”

“ _We can’t hear you_ —”

“ _—What the fuck is a Christmas_ —”

Baekhyun tried to talk back a few times but found that the radio was also probably busted. It was a miracle that the Vimana was still flying at all, really. He turned on his personal comm then, as Jongin and Sehun groaned in relief and slumped on the floor of the ship together.

“Hey,” Baekhyun spoke up. “The boys got the Cabal, but my dashboard got real busted in the process. We can’t stop this hellish music. Mongryong, can you stop it?”

“I’m sorry, Captain! I am unable to override things I enjoy!” The not-quite-Ghost exclaimed, startling the skittish Vivi, before beginning to sing in time with the strange merry music. “ _It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas_! _Everywhere you go_!”

“ _Thank the Traveller you’re okay_ —” Chanyeol was saying right in his ear, and was it fair that Baekhyun somehow relaxed just a little bit by hearing that voice? Even with the wind still blowing so harshly? Even with his arm stinging as it was? Even knowing his piece of shit ride was even shittier now? “ _—A-all three of you, of course._ ”

“ _Of course,_ ” Jongdae mocked.

“ _Of course_ ,” Yixing echoed playfully.

“I’m glad you guys are okay, too.” Baekhyun said coyly, and he hoped he conveyed quite well that he didn’t really give a rat’s ass about at least six of them. With how Kris reacted, he was certain it had worked.

“ _Okay, break it up, you two,_ ” The Hunter Vanguard complained. “ _Baekhyun, turn that ship around and let’s go in. Did Monggu manage to break through the cloaking_?”

“I don’t know,” Baekhyun replied, and he repeated more loudly for the Titan who had started this. “Hey, did Monggu manage to break through the cloaking?”

Jongin hummed, and then asked Monggu something, which Baekhyun couldn’t hear over a new song about something called Christmas, which Mongryong happily sang along to, and the wind. Free of danger, he focused on the dashboard, assessing the damage. “Yeah! We’re just waiting for a reply. It’s like leaving a voicemail.”

“We’re waiting for an answer, they say,” Baekhyun informed the others. He finally looked up. “Alright, we’re going back—”

He quickly shut himself up, eyes widening and jaw slacking, as he saw where he had inadvertently –or had it been inadvertent, truly?— taken them.

How— how had he missed this? How had he missed something so big and so full of activity, when he had been flying straight towards it this whole time? Had the Thresher lead him here? Had he done this on purpose? Sehun and Jongin had always been facing the back. They couldn’t know. But he—

“Baekhyun,” Sehun interjected seriously. “Why— why are we flying over the Cabal firebase?”

The firebase wasn’t a firebase per se, Baekhyun realised quickly— it was an immense warship, stationed in the middle of a place Baekbeom and he called the Sunken Islands. The Red Legion had merely built a few quick structures around it, deploying tanks and interceptors and soldiers down on the ground until it _looked_ the part. No wonder it had shown up from nowhere. It had literally landed from the sky.

And now, the whole firebase’s eyes were on Baekhyun’s lowly Häkke Vimana, the scavenger finding himself almost unable to change his course. He was unable to. It’s like he had been guided here, by phantom hands that dissolved into his shoulders and took possession of him.

 _You did this on purpose_ , he heard himself saying. _The Red Legion will capture the Traveller’s Chosen, and all will be lost_.

“Baekhyun? Baekhyun!”

Sehun was suddenly pushing him away from the steering wheel, practically taking the controls out of Baekhyun’s trembling hands to swerve the craft in the opposite direction —or any other direction, really— as a small group of Threshers and Harvesters began making their way towards them, shooting. Jongin, fortunately, hadn’t dropped the Two-Tailed Fox it seemed, and already knew his way around it— he took another shot, and if the couple of explosions that were heard were anything to go by, he had hit something.

“What the fuck, Baekhyun?” Sehun questioned as he did his best to escape. Baekhyun found himself yanking the steering wheel back from Sehun, as he fought to get a grip. “How did we end up here?!”

“I—” Baekhyun stuttered, almost too quiet, under a man singing about how he _didn’t want a lot for Christmas_. “—I just didn’t realise where we were going.”

“What did you say?!” Sehun demanded in disbelief, but Baekhyun paid him no mind as he regained control over himself. He now knew where they were going. He could lose these Red Legion ships.

“ _What is going over there?_ ” Xiumin was asking. “ _Byun? Oh? Kai?_ ”

It was Jongin who answered, screaming practically as he dodged small slugs and debris, and attempted to stay upright as Baekhyun zig-zagged the Häkke Vimana to avoid being hit. “We ran straight into the firebase! We have a bunch of Cabal on us!”

“ _How did you even manage that_?” Jongdae squawked.

“ _Baekhyun, what the fuck did you do_?” Kris yelled.

“ _Get out of there right now_ —” Yixing was saying.

“ _—It’s gonna be okay, you can get out_ —” Chanyeol attempted to comfort, although he was too wound up.

The cacophony of voices in his ear was too much for Baekhyun. He shut off his comm, and now, there was only wind and bullets and Christmas. He had to think, fast. How Jongin and Sehun hadn’t gotten shot yet was due to their agility and nothing more.

An impulsive idea formed in Baekhyun’s head.

“Boys!” Baekhyun called, as he took the Häkke Vimana towards the Gulch. “We’ll reach Trostland in a sec, and when we get there, we’ll meet our one and only neighbour!”

“You have a neighbour?!” Vivi asked, flabbergasted.

“It’s gonna help us distract and get rid of these Cabal, but it’s definitely gonna try to get rid of us too!” Baekhyun continued, as another bullet impacted the floor by his feet, opening a hole into the craft. Shit. “You’re gonna have to jump!”

“Jump?!” Vivi screamed. “Jump how?!”

“With your feet, Vivi!” Baekhyun snapped. “Or Sehun’s feet, how else?!”

“We’re not leaving you on your own like that!” Sehun argued, as Jongin kept shooting, having exchanged the Two-Tailed Fox for a Jiangshi auto rifle that was really ineffective— but no one would realise, with how Jongin was yelling intensely.

“I’m not gonna be alone! Mongryong will be with me!” Baekhyun countered.

“Yes!” Mongryong confirmed. “It is my duty to accompany my Captain even with his worst ideas!”

Another bullet from a random Thresher impacted right into the crystal of the Häkke Vimana’s windshield, which exploded into a spiderweb pattern.

“Do as I say, Sehunnie!” Baekhyun pleaded, a bit desperately, as he took a hard dive which unbalanced both Guardians between two cliffs. Up ahead, just like Baekhyun expected him to be, a massive Servitor surrounded by shield drones was roaming the area.

Arakis-12 was a lonely creature— never had any of the inhabitants of the farm spotted the Servitor with other Fallen, even if surely, he could keep a whole House of them alive with his sheer size.

That Servitor had been the only non-animal being in the EDZ, other than Baekbeom and his family, ever since they had arrived, his purpose unknown. Indeed, they often joked that it was like their neighbour— their extremely mean, extremely vicious, extremely powerful, with an impenetrable shield, do-not-engage-under-any-circumstances sort of neighbour.

Perfect for the occasion, really.

The piercing, robotic shriek Arakis-12 let out when it spotted them was all Baekhyun needed to press the accelerator harder, and hope he was faster than the Servitor’s Eye.

Fortunately, he was, and incredibly, some of the warships after them weren’t, if the sudden burst of fire from behind them was anything to go by. Arakis-12 was too close, and Baekhyun veered sharply towards the old roads of Trostland— this time, he wasn’t fast enough. The energy of the Eye hit the Häkke Vimana’s wing, and now, along with the horrid merry music distortedly claiming all they wanted for Christmas was you, now there was a blasting alarm of emergency, and Baekhyun was losing control of the ship, _fast_.

“Guardians!” He yelled. “Jump now!”

Surprisingly, it was Sehun, with Vivi and his bow in his hands, who didn’t hesitate to do as told. The Hunter made a dive for a free fall, and Baekhyun had half a mind to think of Kris’s words.

Jongin almost followed, Two-Tailed Fox and the Jiangshi rifle hugged to his chest, but Monggu stopped him.

“Wait!” The little Ghost cried. “It’s Baekbeom! At last! Baekbeom, we—”

“Jump!” Baekhyun repeated desperately, as he tried and tried and failed to keep the Häkke Vimana upright. He was touching the water now, and Jongin did jump, but it was too late and too close to the water.

“Captain!” Mongryong screamed, terrified. It was the last thing Baekhyun heard, before crashing headfirst into the side of a cliff.

“ _—Yes? Is that, uhm— Monggu, was it? Hello?”_

If Baekhyun found himself conscious, it was because something beckoned him to be— not because he could be.

In the beginning, he only felt numbness. Then, the pain from his broken body hit him like a freight train. There was a throbbing in his arm, his hands, his legs, his torso, his head— and they were all unbearable. He felt like he was choking with his own blood.

He managed to open his eyes, only to see that he was crushed under the debris of what used to be a wonderful, old, shitty Häkke Vimana, pinned in shallow water that, if he were to drop his head, would be high enough to drown him.

“Captain!” Mongryong began from— somewhere. The little creature’s voice was shaky and distant, but he seemed to be making an effort to maintain some semblance of calm. Baekhyun spat out blood and moaned terribly in pain. “Captain, do not panic. Do not panic, Mongryong. Oh boy. Oh boy. Captain, can you hear me? You have sustained many injuries. Y-You should be dead right now. Captain. I’m not sure what’s happening to you. Get it together, Mongryong! W-We just need that— we need that friendly Ghost, we need Vivi— I’m your Failsafe, and I will revert you to a safe condition in the event of this breakdown, oh boy— why is it so hard to concentrate?!”

Baekhyun couldn’t speak. He could only scream, cry out, sob, choke in his agony. His head weighed a ton, but he had to keep it upright. His unprotected fingers had been broken and pushing up on the piece of dashboard that trapped him only hurt him further.

Abruptly, the dashboard above Baekhyun’s mangled body became alive with warped, twisted, tortuous music of cheer once more. It was ominous despite itself, and even if Baekhyun could hardly focus on anything but his pain, the words were burning themselves into his mind, and it was like they were made of actual fire.

_You better watch out_

_You better not cry_

_You better not pout_

_I’m telling you why_

_Santa Claus is coming to town_

Between laboured breaths, Baekhyun attempted to look around, vision blurry and filled with black spots. However, not very far from him, he could make out a figure, standing still. For a moment, elation filled him as he imagined it was Chanyeol— then Sehun, then Jongin. But elation was replaced with dread.

No. It couldn’t be any of them. The silhouette was too short. Too slender. And it wore a lilac and red poncho.

 _He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice,_ and the figure stepped closer. _He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice._

 _Santa Claus is coming to town_ , and the figure was closer still, and Baekhyun could finally make out his own face, staring back at the scavenger with an almost beatifical smile. Baekhyun began to thrash immediately, attempting to get away, but there was just no way.

“Captain! No!” Mongryong cried from far away. “You’re going to hurt yourself more! Please, stay put! I can’t lose you! Guardian Kai and his Friendly Ghost are coming this way!”

The other Baekhyun was standing by Baekhyun’s feet by now. How could Mongryong not see him, not stop him? The biggest, scariest monster under his bed. The protagonist of his worst Nightmares. The mirror creature that only imitated Baekhyun, to hide a terrible form— except this Baekhyun wasn’t broken, save for a scratch on his otherwise pristine cheek. The one Baekhyun had given himself on that garden, in that dream, with those long, long, long, nails.

The tone of the song changed impetuously. The man who was singing almost seemed to be desperate— just as desperate as Baekhyun felt, as his own reflection squatted slowly by his side, and Baekhyun found himself face to face with Baekhyun.

_He sees you when you’re sleeping_

_He knows when you’re awake_

_He knows if you’ve been good or bad_

_So be good for goodness sake_

“It’s like a bad joke, isn’t it?” The Baekhyun that wasn’t real or perhaps was more real than Baekhyun himself was spoke at last, mirth clear in his voice. “You’ve been so, so bad. And I’ve seen it all, Baekhyun. And there’s nothing I would like more than to see you die, as it’s meant to be.”

Baekhyun reached out to stroke Baekhyun’s wounded cheek, and Baekhyun recoiled from the touch, but there was no escaping. Mongryong had come to realise his Captain was seeing something only meant for him. The little drone was speaking frantically, but Baekhyun couldn’t understand a single word that came out of his not-quite-Ghost’s non-existent mouth.

“And yet, I can’t,” The creature that claimed to be Baekhyun admitted, almost sadly, still stroking Baekhyun’s face as if petting a cat. “You’ve bound me, haven’t you? To the will of the Nine. That parlour magician made it so. Pathetic. Now, they want to see— they want to see how far you will go.”

**L E T U S S E E**

**Let us see.**

**let us see**

**LET US SEE**

**l e t u s s e e**

**LET US SEE.**

**L E T U S S E E.**

Baekhyun screamed as voices invaded his head, assaulting from every direction at once. His doppelgänger laughed, a cruel, empty sound, and grabbed onto his hair and pulled.

“And you shall see,” Baekhyun declared, forcing Baekhyun to stare right into his starry eyes. “They make themselves vulnerable _just_ to see. So, let’s give them their money’s worth, hm, Baekhyunnie?”

 _Oh, you better watch out!_ —

—And then, Baekhyun was awake again, standing. There was nothing crushing him, there was no pain, there was no music, there was no twin face staring at him, there were no voices.

But there was Mongryong, by his side. There was Monggu, in front of him, unmoving. And there was Jongin, panting, as he pointed at Baekhyun with Baekhyun’s own hand cannon. There was something unrelenting in the redheaded Titan— something harsh, unforgiving. Baekhyun realised he was not staring at Jongin, but rather, at Kai, the Sentinel who mingled with Warminds in abandoned Cosmodromes.

But the stolen Ace of Spades in his hands trembled. Slightly. Enough.

“What are you doing?” Baekhyun asked softly. He felt— he felt like he hadn’t crashed into anything. There was no pain. There was no muddled mind. There was— a surge of energy. “Give me back my gun, Jongin.”

Jongin snarled at Baekhyun. He— he didn’t really understand. He lifted his hands slowly to signal a surrender of sorts, but Jongin only growled at him.

“Don’t fucking move!” The Titan shouted angrily. “What are you?!”

“What?” Baekhyun questioned. “What are you talking about?”

“I saw you,” Jongin said then, his voice harsh and cold like steel. “I saw you.”

Baekhyun recognised the fear and horror under the façade of wrath. How many times had he used a similar mask? Jongin couldn’t hide how the Ace of Spades faltered in his grasp, quivering, as if he couldn’t bear to point it at Baekhyun.

But he had to.

“What did you see?” Baekhyun finally asked, careful and gentle.

“Didn’t you just hear me?!” Jongin practically howled, voice cracking with anger and sadness all at once, as it rose in volume, never lowering the gun that separated them. “I saw _you_! I could hear you scream, and cry. I thought you were dying. And I saw you, broken beyond repair, just— fixing yourself! Coming together again, like it wasn’t impossible to do without the Light!”

“Jongin,” Baekhyun tried as calmly as he could. “Lower the Ace, please.”

“It’s Kai to you!” Jongin spat furiously. “Don’t you ever call me anything else again! I should’ve listened to my gut. I should’ve listened to Rasputin— I lied to everyone, when he mentioned you. You gave me a bad feeling ever since you picked us up in the Plaza, but I ignored it! Because how could someone so helpful and so kind to us be bad?”

It stung. Baekhyun had never imagined Jongin had been so reluctant of him, from the start. He thought— he thought they were friends. His heart broke. But Jongin— or rather, Kai didn’t relent.

“You’ve never had the Light,” Kai continued venomously. “You’ve never been worthy of it. But what you have done, if it isn’t through the Light, could only be done by one mean. And that’s the Darkness. You’ve been a servant of the Darkness this whole time, haven’t you? I bet you took us to that firebase on purpose!”

Baekhyun assumed that, if he had managed to keep any outward composure at all, it was because of a heavy sense of dissociation. He wanted to get down on his knees, sob, grovel, beg for Kai’s forgiveness— even if he didn’t deserve it. He would admit to everything, if only the Titan would listen.

Kai would not listen, however. That was much clear.

“You’re very smart,” The grey-haired scavenger found himself saying instead, because, hadn’t that been exactly what had happened? He hadn’t meant to. But it had been that way, in the end. “But I swear on everything we’ve gone through— I don’t want to harm you. Lower that gun, Kai.”

“No!” The Guardian screamed, his voice reverberating with pain on the rocks and water that surrounded them. Baekhyun tried to come closer. Kai was more scared than Baekhyun realised, because the man pulled the trigger impulsively. There was a flash of regret for a fraction of a second, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. However, for the first time since Baekhyun had known Kai, the Titan missed the shot.

He tried again, only to have the bullet impact a rock instead. A third time, and he hit a part of the Häkke Vimana’s torn wing. Baekhyun flinched every time, even if he didn’t try to get out of the way. His eyes stung with tears he refused to shed just yet.

“The Ace’s biometrics are attuned to me, Kai,” The scavenger explained as gently as he could. “Empty that barrel if you want— it’s not gonna do as you say.”

“Y-You gave it to me to protect myself in Io,” Kai reminded him, voice cracking with hurt, and Baekhyun noticed the Titan’s own eyes were just as shiny with tears as his own— cheeks almost as red as his hair. “You knew that, and still gave it to me? You’re even crueller than I thought.”

“It would’ve protected you then,” Baekhyun argued sadly. “Because it’s what _I_ wanted. And you wouldn’t be trying to kill its creator.”

Kai ground his teeth, swallowing harshly, as he blinked away teardrops. He didn’t lower the Ace of Spades, but at least, he wasn’t shooting it any longer.

“I have to let everyone know,” The man muttered, almost as if trying to convince himself. “I have to let them know what you are. What you can do.”

This time, when Baekhyun tried to move nearer to Kai, the Guardian didn’t react with such intensity. He gripped the Ace more tightly, and stepped backwards, still afraid. Baekhyun had made him this terrified. Baekhyun was a monster.

“I’m sorry, Kai. I can’t let you tell anyone.”

He thought of Luhan. He thought of the way he could mind-bend those around him, through Darkness. He thought of what Kai had said— Baekhyun had healed himself, through Darkness.

“Captain,” Mongryong called, as if reading Baekhyun’s mind himself. He didn’t sound cheery, or joyful, or anything similar— he sounded regretful. “My ethics directives suggest that manipulation of Guardian Kai and Friendly Ghost Monggu is not the right course of action to ensure our survival.”

“Please, Baekhyun,” Monggu spoke for the first time, voice weak and thin, like a thread about to fray. “Kai is just scared and feels betrayed, don’t do this, we care about you—”

“What are you gonna do?!” Kai demanded, voice raw with emotion. “What?!”

When Baekhyun spoke again, his voice was soft and honeyed, something sweet that only now he could tell he had heard from Luhan more than once. It was deceptively serene— he didn’t feel one bit serene. “I just want you to understand you didn’t see what you think you saw.”

He had channelled all his will into this. To Baekhyun’s ever-growing guilt, it worked almost instantly. Something in Kai’s posture immediately loosened, eyes glazing over with something that wasn’t tears, the snarl softening into an almost confused expression. Monggu, too, seemed to enter into some sort of trance, even though he seemed to be fighting it at first. Baekhyun pushed more.

“Oh,” Kai gasped.

“You found me all broken, about to die,” Baekhyun elaborated, and looked down for the first time to his body. There was a large bloody hole on his poncho and armour— oh yeah. He should’ve died. “And you pulled me out. Then Monggu used his Light to heal me.”

“But I can’t heal Kai any longer,” Monggu protested feebly. “Much less you.”

“U-Uhm,” Baekhyun faltered, but snapped his fingers when he got an idea. “It’s the Shard’s influence. We’re so close to it— it gave you the strength to help me out.”

“Yeah,” Monggu answered. “We did that.”

There was silence. Baekhyun gently pried his own Ace of Spades from Kai’s hands, who allowed him to without protest. The scavenger looked up to the Titan, desperate and anguished.

“I’m not a servant of Darkness,” He continued, voice shaky even if he tried to sound firm, concentrating all of his energy in this— he wished he could bend his own mind to believe himself. “I’m _not_ a monster. I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to save the Last City. I just want you to get your Light back. I just want to go home, and not die.”

Kai nodded.

“Yeah,” The Titan conceded so easily, so naturally, and Baekhyun sniffled to keep himself from crying. “Yeah, Baekhyun, you’re one hell of a man.”

Baekhyun was unable to stop his tears from falling, then. He wiped one, and then another, and another, and then he was full on crying, and fell to his knees on the water. Kai seemed to snap of whatever Baekhyun had made him fall into, and fretted over the scavenger, moving to hug him and pet his bloody, messy hair.

“Baekhyun, it’s okay!” Kai kept repeating, unsure and frazzled on how to approach such an inconsolable Baekhyun, who clutched onto the Guardian like a lifeline. “It’s okay! We talked to Baekbeom, okay? They’re coming for us. They know we’re here. The rest got to the farm, okay? I’m sorry about your ship. You saved us, though. It’s okay—”

—It wasn’t okay.

Sehun found them like that, among the rubble of the Häkke Vimana, with Baekhyun weeping like a child and Jongin trying to console him, while Mongryong and Monggu surveyed what was left of the craft and its remains for anything salvageable. They had found the Two-Tailed Fox, Izanagi’s Burden, Baekhyun’s helmet with minimal bumps, one single can of soda. The SUROS Regime had snapped into two like a twig in the crash. Most mats had burnt into a crisp.

The Hunter was panting when he reached them. He didn’t think it was too strange, at first, seemingly not realising exactly what had happened immediately. So he just whined when he was close enough to the other two.

“Baekhyun, you dropped me off way too close to that Servitor,” Sehun complained breathlessly. “That thing is so _mean_. Vivi scanned it, and it says it’s a Forge Saboteur. What the fuck is a Forge Saboteur? Anyway, we had to hide to get here. I followed your tracker, but—”

Baekhyun sobbed. Sehun instantly shut up, and Kai, who had dropped to seat with Baekhyun, merely shook his head.

“He’s inconsolable,” The redhead told Sehun. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Baekhyun,” Sehun began again, lowering his voice to something softer and sweeter. “It’s okay. We did it. You got us here safe and sound. It’s just a ship.”

How could Baekhyun begin to explain to Sehun that it wasn’t just a ship? How did he even tell him of what he had done to Kai and Monggu? How could he explain what he had seen? What he had nearly done to Sehun himself? How did he do any of that, without losing another friend, one that he held so dearly and so close to his dying heart?

He only cried harder, as the Häkke Vimana’s dashboard burst into life one last time, almost screaming, _you better not cry, you better not pout_.

Baekhyun shot at what was left of the dashboard just to shut it up. It exploded.

It was half an hour later, with Baekhyun forcefully cuddled between Sehun and Kai, that the roar of sparrows could be heard in the distance. He had managed to calm down, if only because he had focused on another task— avoiding hugs from a Hunter and a Titan, who were intent on comforting him.

Baekhyun didn’t want to be comforted. He wanted to fling himself off a cliff, or get blasted into pieces by Akaris-12, or drown himself in the shallow pond they hadn’t moved from. It was the least he deserved. Kai, out of all the people he had hurt during this horrible process, had been the only one who didn’t somewhat have it coming. Kai had only meant to protect himself and his friends, from whom he perceived as the biggest threat.

Rasputin had warned him about Baekhyun. Kai had had a bad feeling the whole time. And yet, Kai had surpassed all of that— and followed Baekhyun. Tricked himself into accepting Baekhyun, and for what? Baekhyun had betrayed him.

Kai should’ve trusted his gut. Baekhyun could agree on that.

But Kai. Kai had forgotten all about that, and thought Baekhyun had proved him wrong, and was meant to be trusted, because Baekhyun had _made_ him forget. Kai was kind and agreeable once more, troubled over Baekhyun’s extreme distress, and Baekhyun thought it was impossible to feel even lower than this.

Four sparrows had come for them. Baekhyun recognised Baekbeom immediately in the lead, followed closely by Tao, and by Kyungsoo, and by— oh, no. That was Chanyeol. Baekhyun almost began crying again, solely at the idea of having to face such a virtuous man after what he had done.

Would Chanyeol ever forgive him if he knew what he had done? Would he still think Baekhyun was beautiful? Would he still want to save him?

Baekbeom practically jumped off his sparrow before the bike could reach a full stop, pulling on his helmet and throwing it off to the side as he rushed to the crumpled form of his younger brother. Baekbeom’s only eye took in the whole of Baekhyun –the messy, bloody hair, the torn, bloody poncho, the heartbroken expression, the skin covered in soot, the tear tracks down his cheeks— and paled with anxiety. Baekhyun sniffled, as he looked up to his brother.

“Baekbeommie,” He managed to brokenly whisper. “I fucked up.”

Baekbeom blinked at him, confused. Then, the man pulled Baekhyun up by his arms forcefully, dragging the other into a tight hug. Baekhyun wanted to fight it, but had no willpower left to do so. Instead, he found himself curling against his older brother like a child.

“No, Baekhyunnie,” Baekbeom murmured into his ear, caressing his brother’s hair in a manner so different from what Baekhyun had done to himself. Baekhyun could feel his brother look around, scanning the area, the disaster zone of what used to be the Häkke Vimana. “It was just a ship. You did the right thing.”

Baekbeom had no way of knowing those were the words to trigger Baekhyun’s breakdown once more. The comfort of his only kin was warm, but it wasn’t enough comfort. He mumbled over and over again that it wasn’t just a ship, that he hadn’t done anything right, but Baekbeom only kept holding him, hushing him in the most soothing manner he could.

“What did you do to him to be like this?” Baekhyun heard Chanyeol ask Kai and Sehun accusingly, angrily. Both Guardians spluttered.

“I found them like this!” Sehun protested, even if he sounded guilty. “I heard a lot of shooting, and screaming, but they looked okay when I got here.”

“Then, what the fuck, Kai?” Chanyeol kept questioning.

“He was trapped under some debris! We thought he was gonna die.” Kai explained urgently, besides himself. “Monggu healed him, and after he was fine, he just began crying and didn’t stop. He hasn’t stopped.”

“Monggu healed Baekhyun?” Kyungsoo, who had remained silent until then, asked in a voice that was both soft and sharp at the same time. “How?”

Of course Kyungsoo wouldn’t miss such a detail. Kai hesitated as Baekhyun’s own resolve wavered.

“I…” Kai trailed off at first, and Baekhyun contemplated what would happen if he just let him decide on his own. He loosened the hold he had on the Titan in exchange of tightening the grip he had on Baekbeom’s shirt.

But Kai didn’t disappoint. He didn’t expose Baekhyun. Perhaps, that in itself was a disappointment.

“…The Shard. Its power was enough for Monggu to draw from, but Baekhyun was hurt enough that he depleted himself in the process.”

Kyungsoo hummed in understanding, though there was something sceptical in the sound. Baekhyun didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he focused on Tao, who began to crowd the space of the Byun brothers, hovering as if he wanted to join in the hug. Baekhyun sneaked a glance towards the sweet Warlock, and managed only a small, watery smile, before he buried his face in his brother’s shoulder again.

“This isn’t the reunion I expected to have, Baekhyun,” Tao admitted gently for a greeting. “But I’m glad you’re here. Thank you for getting Sehun back to me.”

Baekhyun let out a choked sound.

“We should get back,” Baekbeom suggested. “Your Vanguard will burst a vein if we take any longer than this.”

Baekhyun only mumbled an ‘okay’ between sniffles. He separated himself gingerly from an equally reluctant Baekbeom and caught Chanyeol’s intense gaze fixed on him. Ashamed, Baekhyun looked away, but he could still feel those almond eyes following him.

“Captain, I have transmatted everything that could be saved into a strange Ghost dimension I was not aware I had!” Mongryong appeared suddenly by his side, high-spirited and bright. His abrupt arrival startled both Baekbeom and Tao, with the Warlock even letting out a squeal of surprise. “Wow! You must be the Captain’s Brother! The similarities are uncanny, save for the scars, and eyepatch, and brown hair—”

“—Uhm,” Baekbeom uttered unintelligently. “What are you? Baekhyun?”

“I am Mongryong!” Mongryong introduced himself happily. “Call me Mongryong!”

“What the hell is that?” Tao asked, terrified. “Are you— are you a Ghost? Baekhyun, did you _die_?!”

“He’s not a Ghost,” Chanyeol answered, somewhat proud for some reason. Baekhyun didn’t really dare to look up to him. “He’s a computer core from the Golden Age we found in a centaur called Nessus. Baekhyun transferred his consciousness to an empty Ghost shell, so he wouldn’t have to be alone. It’s a feat of—”

“—Say it’s a feat of engineering one more fucking time, Chanyeol.” Kyungsoo challenged. Chanyeol seemed to be embarrassed for a moment, for he only grumbled something unintelligible before shutting up.

“You’ve got so much to explain, Baekhyunnie,” Baekbeom remarked, as he watched Mongryong float by Baekhyun’s head, a lemon-ey yellow eye staring back at him. “And I guess, so do I. How about we head home?”

The Farm hadn’t changed much in the couple of days they had left it, if Baekhyun could ignore the large, barely visible but definitely there, dome of cloaking around a large portion of its perimeter.

“We had to hide,” Baekbeom informed the newly arrived Guardians as they ate, something juicy and appetising Hodong had prepared just for them. “Guardian CL was adamant in checking out what the Cabal were up to around here. The day you left, two women made it here only a few hours later— Dara and Minzy. CL, Bom, Dara, and Minzy formed a fireteam to see what the Red Legion could want here.”

Baekbeom paused, biting on the inside of his cheek. “They didn’t make it back. Thumos, the Unbroken is one cruel motherfucker.”

“We attempted to stop them,” Suho added sombrely. The Titan Commander looked just as dashing and bright and handsome as Baekhyun remembered him, even if it had only been a little over thirty hours. “But they would not listen. And we tried to save them, but we didn’t manage to get far.”

“However, Tao had the great idea of pitting the Cabal against some Fallen that have made home in the area in an ambush,” Lord Donghae chimed in proudly, making Tao blush with a pleased smile. “It was the perfect opportunity to steal an impressive cloaking device from the Fallen to build this dome.”

“Not to mention my new coffee table,” Baekbeom added, gesturing to the shield of a Cabal Phalanx that now adorned his living room, lifted crudely by old books and logs. “And my new dog!”

The ‘new dog’ was a War Beast who had clearly seen better days. One of her front legs had been torn clean off, and it was wrapped in bloody bandages, probably by Yeongja. Its metallic helmet, chinstrap, and blades had also been pulled away, though it had been done more gently— also probably by Yeongja. The crimson creature looked old and weary, and shockingly tame. It was letting Taehyung pull on her scales without a care in the world, napping.

“Baekbeom, that isn’t a dog, that’s a military hound,” Baekhyun deadpanned, in what had to be the first words he uttered in a while without crying. His voice was raw and raspy. “I don’t know how I feel about that thing playing with my nephew.”

Baekbeom looked offended by the implications.

“The Queen is harmless!” The older, supposedly level-headed Byun brother retorted. “The poor thing whimpered like a baby when we ran into her! She clearly doesn’t have any fight left in her.”

“I see you too have brought a strange creature into your home, Baekhyun Byun,” Commander Suho observed, watching the little not-quite-Ghost hovering near Taehyung with interest— Mongryong had confessed Taehyung was the first toddler he had ever seen. He found the baby fascinating, and hence, had been following him around. “And I don’t mean Luhan, of course.”

Luhan, who had been silently regarding them from a corner, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall, merely smirked at Suho, eyes glinting in that strange way of his.

“I’m here to help you out, Junmyeon,” The Warlock said in that deceptively gentle tone he had. Suho looked thoroughly uncomfortable with the use of his real name, though his expression didn’t change from impassiveness. “That’s how dire your situation is. You have disturbed me in every timeline there is to disturb.”

“Good.” Suho answered simply, though his tone was tight. “I’m glad you remembered that we exist.”

“Mongryong is a computer core,” Kris changed the subject jarringly. “From an old colony ship— the Exodus Black. It had crashed into an uncharted, unstable centaur, and it had been trapped there ever since his activation by its previous Captain. We had become friends—”

“—Friends is a powerful word, The Kris Wu—” Mongryong chimed from the living room.

“—But it took an immediate liking to Baekhyun, and Baekhyun to him,” The Hunter Vanguard continued, ignoring Mongryong. “He managed to move Mongryong from its core to an empty shell. An impressive accomplishment, if you ask me.”

“Now you say that! You called Baekhyun Frankenstein,” Sehun retorted. It was bratty, but ever since they had arrived at the farm, Sehun had been on edge, no matter how much Tao cuddled him. Seeing Baekhyun so devastated had him especially protective. It made Baekhyun feel even guiltier.

“Can’t I catch a break?” Kris wondered in frustration. “None of us reacted well at first!”

Baekhyun raised his hands to appease both Hunters.

“It’s fine,” The scavenger mumbled without much energy. “Really. I just helped out Mongryong out of a tough situation. He helped us find Kris.”

There was an awkward silence, where tension could be cut with a knife. Suho cleared his throat after what seemed like ages, to address everyone who was reunited in Baekbeom’s kitchen.

“You’ve all exceeded expectations, Guardians,” The Commander mused with approval. “You have brought me Kris and Xiumin, and the Vanguard is now complete. You found Jongok and put her soul to rest at last. You have made contact with Rasputin and made progress on figuring out a way to get rid of the Almighty. You have even corralled someone like Luhan into our cause,” Suho hummed thoughtfully. “You’ve had an eventful couple of days, and I commend you for it.”

Baekhyun muttered an ‘excuse me’, as he stood up. Suho’s perfect smile diminished by a smidge. By his side, Xiumin frowned at Baekhyun.

“There’s much to discuss, Baekhyun,” The Warlock Vanguard said. “Where are you going?”

“I’m leaving you to your discussions,” Baekhyun responded. “This is up to the Guardians, now.”

Xiumin’s frown deepened. This was the exact opposite of what he had asked of Baekhyun, after all. How could he be a leader if he didn’t participate?

“Come on, Baekhyun,” Jongdae teased, though there was a hint of concern that Baekhyun refused to acknowledge, under the playful tone of the Warlock. “You’re way in too deep now. You’re one of us. Don’t deny it.”

Baekhyun inhaled. Exhaled. Inhaled once more. By the second exhale, he had practically bolted out of the kitchen and towards the back porch of the house. It was too stuffy inside. He was suffocating under all those eyes. He was overwhelmed by his own thoughts. He couldn’t keep tricking them like this.

It was twilight when Baekhyun took a seat on the edge of the fountain in the middle of the farm, staring at the grass intently, as if it held a way out of the predicament he had tangled himself in. He felt like a fly, trapped tightly into a web— yet, at the same time, he was the spider. 

There were heavy footsteps on the grass. He expected someone to follow. It was comforting, in a way, and also terrible. He figured it would be Baekbeom, and he looked up to meet the eye of his brother. Instead, he found Chanyeol.

Chanyeol had that frown— that frown Baekhyun so badly wanted to smooth away with kisses. Had he felt this way before? Every emotion that graced Baekhyun now was too compelling, too overpowering for him. He looked away, lest he ended up getting up and kissing Chanyeol for real without deserving to.

Without a word, Chanyeol took a seat by his side. A couple of minutes of silence passed, before the Titan couldn’t take it any longer.

“Everyone thinks you’re this torn up about the Vimana, and about almost dying,” The blond finally spoke. “Even your brother. That your ship meant that much to you, and that it was the last straw for you.”

“I hated that ship,” Baekhyun replied, hushed. “With my whole heart.”

Chanyeol hummed in understanding.

“It was nothing compared to your Skulking Fox, wasn’t it?” The Titan agreed, and Baekhyun blinked when he realised Chanyeol remembered. “Your pride and joy. That loss hurt you way more than this one. Didn’t it?”

Baekhyun kept quiet at first. Then, he nodded meekly.

“Okay,” Chanyeol began. “Since I’ve figured out that’s not what’s truly bothering you so much, and I’m certain this isn’t your first brush with death anyway, will you tell me the real reason you’re like this?”

When Baekhyun didn’t say anything, Chanyeol added: “It’s scary.”

Baekhyun’s lips twitched.

“Is it scary to see me sad?” He asked.

“It would be _sad_ to see you sad. No, you’re not sad,” Chanyeol answered, and Baekhyun looked up once more. The blond blushed when meeting his eyes and continued a bit sheepishly. “I mean. You don’t seem sad to me. You seem… Desperate. Desperately guilty.”

Guardians were incredibly unobservant when they wanted to be, Baekhyun would always think. Chanyeol kept wanting to observe. Baekhyun chuckled, even if it was a bit hollow. “How did you know?”

Chanyeol bumped shoulders with Baekhyun. He stayed there, arms touching lightly. It was cold here in the EDZ— unlike in Io. The warmth was welcome.

“Knowing you’re infected has put things into perspective,” Chanyeol admitted in a low voice. “I’ve been thinking about it. Also, I’m extremely offended Jongdae knew before I did.”

“So did Luhan,” Baekhyun quipped humourlessly. Still, there was relief somewhere in his soul, at having someone see so clearly through him. Or well— as clearly as Chanyeol could look through the muddled window that was Baekhyun’s heart and soul. “Is that what you had to talk to D.O and Chen so urgently about?”

Chanyeol didn’t confirm it directly. Instead, he shrugged. “I figured three heads would be better than one. I trust them with my life. I know they will keep your secret. Though, if it has you like this, I don’t know if it’s a secret that’s healthy to keep. If Luhan knows, why hasn’t he helped you?”

“Luhan _has_ helped,” Baekhyun countered, very, very slowly leaning his head on Chanyeol’s shoulder— fearful that Chanyeol would shrug him off or push him away. Chanyeol didn’t. “In his own, weird Luhan way. If I haven’t died, it has been thanks to him, but…”

Chanyeol scooted just a little bit closer. “But what?”

Baekhyun didn’t want to keep hiding anything from Chanyeol. He couldn’t imagine, however, where to even start. Instead, he shook his head, and then nudged Chanyeol so the Titan would stare right into his eyes.

Their faces were extremely close. If Baekhyun leaned in just a bit, he would be able to peck Chanyeol. With how Chanyeol’s own eyes darted to the grey-haired man’s lips, he thought the same thing— however, he understood what Baekhyun wanted him to do. Once again, the Titan was frowning, but there was something angry in the expression this time.

“The stars in your eyes have grown,” Chanyeol observed, as if containing himself from cursing. “Is Luhan making you fall even more ill? What the ever-loving fuck for?”

“It’s the price to pay to stay in control of the Darkness,” The scavenger sighed. “Only, that control is actually… I guess I’d say it’s restricted. I can’t think of a better word. I can do things, but it means letting the Darkness advance.”

The Titan frowned.

“What kind of things can you do?”

“What do you think? Bad things,” Baekhyun answered grimly. “Dark… Things. Things I’m not proud of but doing them has saved my life again and again.”

It was Chanyeol’s turn to sigh, yet unlike Baekhyun, there was something almost cheerful about his sigh, a theatrical sound that made the man beside him frown. Was Chanyeol not grasping the severity of what he had said?

“I truly don’t think things are bad as you think they are,” Chanyeol said. “You’re not as evil as you may think you are, just because you’re sick.”

“You don’t know what I’ve done,” Baekhyun retorted quickly. “You don’t know the extent of it all. I haven’t told you, and I never will.”

Chanyeol, for a strange reason, smiled at Baekhyun then. It was a resigned sort of smile. The Titan shrugged.

“I’m not okay with that,” Chanyeol admitted. “Not at all. But I know I can’t push now. And the balance of whatever bad you have done, I see, has been compensated by the good you have done.”

The blond man took one of Baekhyun’s hand in his own. Baekhyun’s fluttering heart realised that, at last, he had gotten his wish— both of them were had no gloves, and their hands touched without restraint. Skin to skin.

Chanyeol’s hand was big, and rough. His fingers had callouses Baekhyun wanted to trace with the tips of his fingers, until he had them memorised. Chanyeol, apparently, had the same idea, with how he stroked the palm of Baekhyun’s hand delicately. Both of them had their eyes fixated on their joined hands, as if it were fascinating.

It was crazy, Baekhyun thought, how something so simple made him feel so infinitely better. None of his past lovers had made him feel so intensely as Chanyeol had. Even when relaxed, he felt intensely and passionately. The attraction was almost enough to crush him— but there was also something else, something more caring, something more protective, that made Baekhyun wish he could whisk this moment and Chanyeol away, and never come back to reality.

“How can you be so good to me?” Baekhyun finally asked. “I keep pushing you away.”

Chanyeol shook his head.

“You keep drawing me in,” The Titan whispered. “There’s something about you, Baekhyun Byun.”

“There’s something about you, Chanyeol Park,” Baekhyun countered coyly. Chanyeol blushed, but grinned, and then, dared to do something unexpected— he lifted Baekhyun’s hand, and kissed his thumb. Baekhyun found himself smiling, forever charmed. He had a mole there, right under his nail.

Luhan’s words of how Chanyeol was drawn to the Darkness within him tried to push into Baekhyun’s mind, but he discarded them. Chanyeol was so much more than that. Baekhyun felt like _he_ could be much more than that, when he was with the Titan. Right now, all that mattered was that Chanyeol was here with him.

Things could still look up.

“Just hear me out this time, okay?” Baekhyun started, as he threw himself on his large mattress. He groaned, because oh, real beds were amazing. “Okay. So. Four spies walk into a bar—”

“—No.” Kris stopped him dead on his tracks. “Just, no. No bad jokes.”

“Is three minutes once more an okay time frame?” Xiumin asked, ignoring both scavenger and Hunter. They were all gathered in Baekhyun’s bedroom, but there was little possibility this wasn’t suspicious. It was nearing midnight, and the unlikely group had been reunited once more.

“Just hope Chanyeol takes forever putting Taehyung to bed,” Baekhyun quipped, in a much better mood than he had been hours ago. Chanyeol had made sure of that, with his strong, silent company, and then, with terrible jokes. “He should be a very fussy baby right now.”

Of course Baekhyun had invited Chanyeol to spend the night with him. Under the guise of having a big bed and the cots being too small for Chanyeol, it was a perfect excuse. Never mind that Kris was taller than the Titan. However, Baekhyun still needed to catch up with the Hidden, and so, he had sent Chanyeol away to help Yeongja with Taehyung, who was overly stimulated at all the new people he had seen.

“Three minutes it is,” Yixing decided, as he set a timer on his watch once more. “Okay, then. Xiumin?”

“The response to our log has been quite positive,” The Warlock reported, as he took a seat by Baekhyun’s starfish body on the bed, ginger and elegant. “Many agents have suggested there was something wrong with Jongok before the invasion. They’re pleased with my naming. They have faith in the new Vanguard. They have faith in the Farm. So, those are things we can relax about, although we should find a way so Sungwoo can find us. Luhan is certain he will show up in the next few days.”

“Oh, so now you talk to Luhan?” Kris teased. “See how ridiculous you are? You would rather talk to _Luhan_ over your own Ghost—”

Xiumin shushed Kris harshly.

“This is all I have to report on my end,” The Warlock grumbled. “Kris, have you found anything of importance regarding the Abyssal Champion?”

This one would be interesting, Baekhyun figured, especially when he saw Kris nod resolutely.

“Oh, very much so,” Kris assured them. “I asked for the scans of every Ghost that has encountered the Abyssal Champion and compared them all for analysis. That’s Pepper, Ink, RouRou, Monggu, Toben, Vivi, Cat, and Tan. Only Xiaotong refused, but that’s alright. You’ll never believe this— that Taken isn’t a Taken at all.”

Baekhyun raised his eyebrows in surprise. “What do you mean he isn’t? Is he Hive, then?”

Kris shook his head.

“He isn’t Hive, either. No,” Kris hummed. “The Abyssal Champion is something else entirely. His biosignatures don’t make any sense— they don’t resemble any creature known to Humanity. I suppose that’s why he doesn’t follow Savathûn’s call— he has no loyalty to her.”

“So, where does his loyalty lie?” Yixing wondered. “Is it, for some reason, with Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun chuckled nervously.

“Me?” He asked in disbelief. “It has tried to attack me many times. I don’t think loyalty is the right word for it.”

“I agree with Baekhyun,” Kris conceded. “His patterns of behaviour suggest he wants Baekhyun dead— but on his own terms.”

“Aw,” Baekhyun cooed. “That’s so nice of him.”

“I have figured out a new name for him,” Kris announced proudly. “It’s more representative of what he is. I’m calling him the Unyielding Terror.”

“That will definitely lift up morale,” Xiumin snarked. “From Abyssal Champion to Unyielding Terror. Like it wasn’t terrifying enough as it was.”

“I think it fits,” Baekhyun admitted impulsively, staring right at Kris. Kris was surprised by how intensely Baekhyun looked at him, but Baekhyun didn’t stop. “Unyielding Terror. Yeah. That’s exactly what it’s like.”

Kris cleared his throat, cheeks colouring lightly. “I’m glad you think so, since it’s your main admirer.”

“My main admirer is Chanyeol Park,” Baekhyun interjected with a small smirk. “Followed closely by you.”

“Okay, stop flirting,” Xiumin muttered. “I’m glad you’re back to being happy, Byun, but you gotta choose one man. We have one minute left. Lay?”

The three remaining spies turned to look at the blond, who had been relatively silent. Yixing looked up at them and smile warmly.

“I’m sorry,” He said sincerely. “I’ve made no progress.”

“Your progress is perhaps the most important, Lay,” Xiumin countered seriously. “Without knowing who the traitor is, whatever move we make next might be compromised.”

Yixing nodded, smile still present, a tinge of apology in the curl of his lips and his pretty dimples.

“I know,” Yixing replied. “And I will work on it as soon as possible. Once I have any sort of information, I will share it with you, Vanguard. It’s a promise.”

No one said anything for a moment. Then, Xiumin nodded, and got up, dusting himself off as if Baekhyun’s bed was dirty somehow.

“Alright, then,” The Warlock finalised. “We made it with time to spare. We’re getting better at this. We’re no longer such terrible spies.”

He walked towards the closed door and stepped outside with a nod to the others.

“I’ll go find myself a bed now,” He said. “I suggest you do the same, Guardians. Sleep well.”

With that, Xiumin was gone, right as Yixing’s timer went off and he turned it off. Kris sighed and got up as well, bidding the two that remained a soft goodbye, leaving the door open in his wake. Yixing got up as well, and Baekhyun figured the man would leave too, but instead, the blond Hunter closed the door and turned to Baekhyun with an enigmatic smile.

“Baekhyun,” Yixing called softly. “May I speak frankly with you?”

Baekhyun instantly got a cold feeling in his stomach. He knew that tone. He had heard Yixing use it in the most despicable of his enemies. He lured those around him with kindness, before he struck.

The scavenger only nodded. Yixing pulled out something from his pocket then— a dead Ghost, as it was. It was shaped like an orchid. Baekhyun’s stomach dropped to his feet.

Jongok’s Ghost.

“I thought this had been lost in the invasion,” The grey-haired man managed out, as he looked up at Yixing in wonder. He was afraid, too. But he couldn’t allow Yixing to see that yet. “Where did you find it?”

“I’ve always had it with me,” Yixing revealed nonchalantly. “Ever since the invasion itself. I saw Jongok kill her with her bare hands. When she left, I knew I had to keep her.”

“Jongok killed her own Ghost?” Baekhyun echoed in shock. “W-Why… Why would she do that?”

Yixing hummed.

“I asked myself the same thing,” The Guardian replied, as he pulled the shell of the Ghost apart, careful. “And I knew this little girl would have the answers within her. I just didn’t bother to look. Maybe I was scared of what I would find. But today, when we thought we lost you, I knew I couldn’t be scared of the truth.”

Baekhyun knew what this meant. With a little prodding, dead Ghosts could expel their last recording— their very last moments alive.

He didn’t know how that Ghost had spent her last moments. He knew, however, how he was involved.

“And what did you find?” Baekhyun dared to ask. Yixing levelled him with a stare, intense, yet revealing nothing further. The Hunter’s smile turned into a smirk.

“Why don’t you hear for yourself?”

Yixing pressed something inside of the Ghost. A small burst of light came from it and floated between both of them. The voice of the Ghost, scared and upset, came at last.

“Jongok!” The Light shouted. “Jongok, stop this! Why did you deactivate the ISR? How could you?”

There was a pause. When the Light spoke again, it was even more scared.

“What did Baekhyun Byun do to you?” The Ghost uttered, and Baekhyun closed his eyes in defeat. “Jongok! No! Don’t do this!”

The Light screamed, and it fizzled out into nothingness. Baekhyun didn’t dare open his eyes. Instead, he hid his face in his hands. He could feel Yixing watching him closely.

“It’s you,” Yixing confirmed. “The traitor was you all along.”

Baekhyun didn’t say anything. No matter. Yixing continued, as if discussing something as casual as the weather.

“You corrupted Jongok somehow, didn’t you?” The blond observed. “You did something to her that day. I remember you meeting with her, before leaving for Old America. You set this whole thing in motion. You allowed Ghaul into the City.”

“I didn’t,” Baekhyun defended himself without any conviction. “I merely did what was asked of me. Jongok had to go. She was in the way.”

“Who asked you to get rid of her, then?” Yixing asked. “Who asked you to make her do something like that? To make her live her last days in paranoia?”

“Not Dominus Ghaul, if that’s what you’re thinking,” The scavenger said. “I was just as blindsided as everyone by that. You must think bigger, Yixing.”

For the first and last time, Baekhyun uttered Yixing’s real name. Yixing watched him with interest, though his expression was quickly hardening into something unkind, and cold, and distant.

“Bigger than the Dominus,” Yixing repeated, contemplating this. “What’s bigger than the Red Legion, but smaller than the Light and the Darkness? Is it the Ennead, perhaps?”

There was a rumble from somewhere, coming from the back of Baekhyun’s head. It didn’t hurt like it used to. Perhaps, he was getting used to the feeling of the Nine recognising their name.

“Baekhyun, Baekhyun, Baekhyun,” Yixing tutted in reproach. “Nobody survives dealings with the Nine.”

“You may not believe me,” Baekhyun countered as calmly as he could. “But I have bigger problems than the Nine.”

The rumble came again. The Nine were unhappy with this. Yixing was unhappy with this.

“I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt,” Yixing said after a moment or two of silence. “If you will tell me why you sold out Humanity’s only safe haven to the Nine and to the Red Legion, sacrificing our Traveller in the process.”

There was a knock then, which made both of them tense up as they looked towards the opening door. A sleepy-looking Tao peeked his head in and alternated his eyes over both Yixing and Baekhyun. Whether he was unable to feel the strange energy in the bedroom, or whether he didn’t care, was unknown.

“Baekhyun,” The Warlock whined. “The thing I’ve missed the most these past two days are your bedtime stories. They relax me. I tried to sleep without them, but knowing you’re here, I can’t help it.”

“Tao,” Baekhyun began. “It’s really not the time.”

Tao pouted.

“I think it’s precisely the time,” Yixing interjected kindly, though his eyes boring into Baekhyun had a completely different emotion to them. “I want to listen to a story, too. Will you tell us one, Baekhyun?”

Tao grinned, unaware and naïve. Yixing watched, untrusting and angry. Baekhyun knew what Yixing was truly asking.

Finally, Baekhyun relented with a sigh. “Okay, fine. Make yourself comfortable, Tao.”

Tao did exactly that, jumping on the bed by Baekhyun’s body, and snuggling against him familiarly. Yixing did not move, even if he was standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. Baekhyun put a hand over Tao’s hair with affection and fondness, but his own eyes didn’t leave Yixing.

“Do you remember the first story I told you, Tao?” Baekhyun asked. Tao hummed and nodded.

“The story of Shin Malphur,” Tao answered like he was a diligent student. “Great guy. Terrible ending, though. Very open-ended.”

Baekhyun agreed. “That’s because that’s not the true ending of Shin Malphur. His story continued far beyond killing Dredgen Yor and avenging Jaren Ward. And today, I’m letting you know the rest.”

“Okay!” Tao acquiesced happily, moving closer to Baekhyun, nuzzling his neck. “Tell it to me!”

“When Shin Malphur murdered Dredgen Yor in the duel of Dwindler’s Ridge, he felt only sadness for all that he had lost,” Baekhyun began narrating. “He felt sadness for all those that had suffered Yor’s terror. Those who had been consumed with the curse that consumed Dredgen Yor, and had their Light taken away due to him. But he thought that finally, with this final death, Yor’s end was here.”

Baekhyun shook his head, as the door opened once more quietly, Chanyeol entering. The Titan seemed to understand there was a narration going on, and only took a seat in a couch on the corner of the room. However, he seemed to sense the tension between Yixing and Baekhyun as well, if how he looked between them was any indication.

“But what Dredgen Yor had done was done, and the morbid curiosity of other Guardians was awakened. Shin saw that Yor’s toxic legacy was at risk of continuing, and he wanted to stop it at all costs. So, he undertook his most ambitious task yet— he became someone else.”

Tao gasped in surprise. Baekhyun looked down at him, then at Chanyeol, and then at Yixing once more before continuing.

“That’s right. Shin became Zyre Orsa,” Chanyeol’s eyes widened almost comically in recognition. “And with other Guardians, he founded the Shadows of Yor— a group which would be the way of Shin to determine which Guardians were in danger of following the path of Darkness that Dredgen Yor had begun.”

“What?” Tao blanched. “But that’s just—”

“—Twisted. Wretched. Unbelievable.” Baekhyun offered. “Shin tempted Guardians with promises of power, just to be able to weed out those he deemed weak and corruptible from the ranks of the Tower. He produced a replica of Thorn, taming its disease and infection, so the Shadows could emulate Yor in the Crucible. He gave those who stuck out the name of Dredgen, to honour Yor— or maybe mock him. And once he identified them, he would kill the Shadows.”

“But,” Tao argued. “That’s wrong. That’s— that’s like cheating.”

“Shin was a lost child, in the end,” Baekhyun continued. “He did not know the purpose of the Light within him. But Dredgen Yor’s death had given him his true destiny— Dredgen had gifted him vengeance, and with that, Shin Malphur found a purpose. He saw, then, the pain of what’s right.”

“But it’s not right.” Tao countered once more. “I’ve heard of the Shadows of Yor. They’re terrible people, and you’re telling me Shin Malphur was the one who founded their order?”

Baekhyun nodded, not looking at Tao, but at Yixing still.

“He would speak of how he was doing the wrong thing for the right reason. That his path put him at odds with heroes, in order to ensure the world was filled with fewer monsters.” A pause. “And he so succeeded, in the way of a human sacrifice. Callum Sol.”

Tao turned his eyes to Yixing, as if to see what was so interesting about him that Baekhyun had all his attention on him. Chanyeol, too, turned to look. Yixing only stared back at Baekhyun, as if daring him to continue.

“Callum Sol was a Shadow, who knew of Shin Malphur’s true self. Why or how, we don’t know. What we do know is that Callum radicalised his speech— he splintered himself, isolated himself, so the weakest Shadows would follow him, because they were hellbent on following the Darkness and bending to its will. He preached hate, and lesser minds flocked to him like flies to filth.”

Baekhyun took another dramatic pause. “Shin Malphur incinerated Callum Sol. Turned him and his followers to ashes, and the Shadows weakened, even if they still roam the System. But it was all just a ruse— a necessary deception, Shin would say. He would offer two paths in order to draw out those eager for power beyond their means.”

“Shin Malphur is a Renegade,” Yixing finally spoke, incensed in a way. “An enemy to the Vanguard, with his methods. He built the perfect trap for those who he considered weak-willed, when in truth, they were only curious.”

“Yes,” Baekhyun agreed, once again meeting Yixing’s eyes. “They were only curious. The mysteries and powers of the Darkness were just too tempting. Shin Malphur was blinded by his own personal darkness. And now he roams the System, looking for the Shadows he created, in order to cull them. He became judge, jury, and executioner. A monster in his own right.”

“This is a terrible bedtime story,” Tao commented with a sigh. “I forgot you made no sense some nights. This is one of them.”

“I make perfect sense,” Baekhyun protested. “There is a moral to this story, Tao. One you can’t forget. And it goes like this— those who you admire often fall. Everyone is capable of horrible things to get what they want. And some may regret it.”

It made sense to Yixing, clearly. Tao only stared at Baekhyun with a furrowed brow.

“Regret won’t bring back those that have been lost,” Yixing sentenced. “Renegades like Shin Malphur have a place. And that place is the Prison of Elders.”

“Why do I feel you’re having a conversation we’re not part of?” Chanyeol spoke for the first time since coming back. Yixing turned his eyes towards the Titan, and smiled once more, warm and steely all at once.

“It’s an inside joke between Baekhyun and I,” He would say then, and Baekhyun comprehended. Yixing would keep quiet about this. “A bad joke.”

“I’ll say. It makes no sense.” Tao agreed quickly, although he did yawn, sleepy. “I can’t believe that actually did work to relax me. It must be your voice, Baekhyun. Bad jokes and all.”

Baekhyun smiled indulgently at Tao.

“Go to bed, Tao,” The scavenger suggested. “Tomorrow, we have a big day. Maybe one day, you’ll run into Shin Malphur himself and get the chance to leave him in the Prison of Elders. But you’ll have to survive his Golden Gun first.”

A thinly-veiled challenge.

“Tao will do what he has to do,” Yixing remarked swiftly. “As much as it will pain him.”

Chanyeol awkwardly laughed.

“Okay, let’s all go to bed, shall we?” He exclaimed, already getting up and herding Yixing and Tao out of the bedroom, pulling on the whining Warlock and pushing the serious Hunter away and into the hallway. “Goodbye, Tao, Lay! Sleep well!”

Chanyeol closed the door, and sighed, and then looked at Baekhyun, who hadn’t moved from the bed. He looked at the scavenger critically— still covered in blood and soot, even if he had discarded his poncho, which Baekhyun was convinced he could still save.

“What was that about?” Chanyeol asked in confusion.

Baekhyun shrugged, as he got up, and watched himself in the mirror in his room. He had half a mind to direct himself to the bathroom, and finally take the shower he had craved for so many days.

“You heard Lay,” He said calmly. “It’s just a bad joke between us.”

Baekhyun had lost two friends today. He was certain he would lose the rest in the coming days. He could only hope Chanyeol, who smiled at him without understanding much, would keep by his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! SOrry for taking so long. I've been EXTREMELY busy. I wouldn't expect much from me until January 15th-- I deliver my thesis then! wish me luck!
> 
> I hope you liked this one. Let me know how you feel in the comments below :)


	10. is it you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello :)

**x. is it you?**

There was no love like the first, they said.

They were slow dancing in the strange garden where everything grew, to the tune a woman crooned in an ancient language Baekhyun could vaguely recognise. The woman in Baekhyun’s arms laughed warmly whenever he spontaneously twirled or dipped her. Baekhyun smiled indulgently whenever she whispered a sweet nothing into his ear. They both closed their eyes and hummed when Baekhyun tucked her head under his chin, kissed the top of her hair, and slowed their rhythm to a gentle sway.

Taeyeon.

This was a memory, Baekhyun realised, with that muted perplexity that only came with dreams. He recognised the scene, even if the setting of a garden was all wrong. This— they had done this the night of their third and last Dawning together. They had spent it in Taeyeon’s small apartment. They would have a final fight the next morning, and break up for the nth yet final time a few days later, as everyone else in the Last City rang the new year in.

But in this moment, they had been happy. Baekhyun could remember that feeling, even if by then Taeyeon no longer made his heart beat faster and she hadn’t for a long time. Absently, he wondered why he was dreaming of this at all, so many years later.

Taeyeon pulled away from him and looked up with a grin. She was not the Taeyeon from then— with short blonde hair and disillusionment dulling the shine of her eyes. No. She was the Taeyeon from now, with long black hair, refreshed by the life in the countryside, skinnier yet clearly happier. Another thing his dream had gotten wrong, but he supposed that was the nature of dreams.

“Baekyoong,” She called the pet name that had survived all hardships, making him laugh. Her voice was distant and like an echo. “I really can’t wait a second more. Can we exchange gifts?”

He laughed again. He pressed a kiss to Taeyeon’s forehead, relishing in the screech she let out about him drooling on her face.

“Yeah, let’s!” He agreed, feeling as if he was reading the words off a script. “Where did you leave them?”

Two large, rectangular boxes –one wrapped neatly with a cute bow and the other wrapped hazardously— materialised by their feet on the grass, as it tended to be with dreams. Baekhyun hummed in approval, not giving it a second thought as he fetched the package he had prepared for Taeyeon –the one with the cute bow— and made a show of hiding it behind his back. Taeyeon, playful as she had always been, snickered as she imitated him.

“Do we go at the same time?” Baekhyun wiggled his eyebrows at Taeyeon, who giggled and nodded with excitement.

“Yes!” The woman exclaimed readily, hopping with energy on her spot. “On the count of three, Baekyoong.”

Baekhyun nodded just as vigorously as she had. Then, he began counting without warning, much to her protest, and practically shoved his present into her hands as soon as she revealed her gift for him: “Okayonetwothree—”

They both tore through their presents with barely concealed eagerness. Baekhyun realised belatedly that this had been their last gift to each other. He shook his head as if that would shake the idea from his mind. Why did that matter? Why was he here?

The hazardously wrapped box gave way to a beautiful sniper rifle, almost reminiscent of the sheath of a sword. Its body was white, with a black handle, and delicate blue dolphins and strange letters painted on its side. He whistled in appreciation, a warmth growing in his chest at the familiar sight, admiring the weapon in his hands with reverence. He almost had to force himself to look away, because he wanted to see Taeyeon’s reaction to his own gift, even if he still remembered it.

He had also given her a sniper rifle, after all. Hers, however, was slim and minimalistic, made of the deepest black and a vibrant, metallic red. It was gorgeous all the same, and the grin in Taeyeon’s face reflected that she thought so, too. She had always preferred a more prim and elegant aesthetic in her guns, unlike Baekhyun, who had motives decorating each weapon he owned and cherished enough.

Most couples would have agreed firearms weren’t a very romantic thing to give away during the Dawning, and perhaps, it had been one of their downfalls. They liked to bend the rules until the rules inevitably broke. They had too much fighting spirit. Perhaps they would had been better suited to form a fireteam, rather than be lovers.

Baekhyun shook his head again. This dream was extremely reflective.

“You go first.” He prompted instead, much like he had back then.

“Her name is Izanagi’s Burden,” Taeyeon pointed to the sniper rifle in Baekhyun’s arms. “Ada-1 picked it out for you herself. I tried it out and I think it’s suited to your skills. Plus, it has decorations, just like you like them.”

Baekhyun snorted at the slightly disparaging way she referred to the dolphins. Or were there koi fish? She kept repeating she didn’t see the need for them, nor their practicality. A gun never stopped and wondered if it looked pretty, Taeyeon would say— it just shot. Baekhyun had argued that it wasn’t about what was practical, but rather, about how it marked them as his.

“Very pretty decorations, too,” The scavenger humoured the sniper. “What’s her story?”

Taeyeon shrugged and waved him off. Baekhyun frowned— Taeyeon was supposed to launch into a tragic tale of an exchange gone wrong, of a sacrifice made for love. The Taeyeon in front of him only wanted him to speak about the rifle in her hands.

“Tatara Gaze,” Baekhyun offered warily, the words stumbling out before he could think about them. The garden didn’t look any different, still as sunny and pleasant as ever, and yet, Baekhyun was beginning to feel uneasy. “Ada-1 thought it would suit _you_ very much. I guess we both owe her for this Dawning.”

The Taeyeon in his memory was supposed to laugh, then. She would suggest they paid the Exo a late visit, maybe with some candy. They would never get around it, because they would be too busy fighting.

The Taeyeon in this dream, however, didn’t laugh. She instead tilted her head to the side in something akin to wonder, as she looked up to Baekhyun once more. “It’s strange she thought it would suit _me_ , when it is the fire in _your_ eyes that reveals all truths.”

Baekhyun blinked, bewildered. “What?”

“I meant to say that you’re an open book, Baekyoong,” Taeyeon continued sombrely, and now, Baekhyun could recognise that line, but it was a different memory, as if Taeyeon was getting all jumbled up in his mind. “You can’t hide your hatred, or your shame, or your guilt, or your fear.”

That— now that didn’t make any sense.

“What are you trying to say, Taeng?” He asked with inquietude. Taeyeon didn’t say anything for a moment, before slowly turning Tatara Gaze on him, and he gasped. “What are you doing? What’s happening? Taeng? Taeyeon?”

He should have known. Nothing in this garden ever ended well for him. This wasn’t a memory, nor a lucid dream. It was another nightmare.

“It’s all crushing you,” Taeyeon didn’t stop talking, even as he turned Izanagi’s Burden on her as well. It wasn’t actually Taeyeon, he kept telling himself. “And I feel so sorry for you, Baekyoong. It all began with me, didn’t it? You couldn’t even love me right.”

Baekhyun caught himself making sure Izanagi’s Burden would get Taeyeon on the chest, even at such a close range. He was putting more and more distance between them, or the ground between them just grew and separated them.

“Gather your regrets, Baekyoong,” Taeyeon almost seemed to plead. “Gather them all and purge them. Let your enemies feel the weight of your burdens. That’s the real story behind that gun.”

“Are you my enemy, Taeng?” He wondered, almost out of nowhere. She smiled, that smile she always gave him when she was about to disappoint him and saw no way out of it.

His first true love. The woman he thought he would marry, only to get his heart broken. Now, she spent more time with his family –with her new girlfriend, no less— than Baekhyun. It was so easy to fall into old habits, to play coy with her and play house, like nothing between them had changed and yet everything had. Baekhyun had thought he wasn’t bitter— but maybe he was.

**no**

**she is like your family**

**is she not?**

He lowered Izanagi’s Burden in a heartbeat, as if that was all the confirmation he needed. Taeyeon snarled.

“I am your enemy, Baekhyun!” She claimed strongly. “So, punish me! Kill me! Destroy me!”

“I— I can’t do that, Taeng.” Baekhyun answered, eyes wide. Taeyeon let out a roar that couldn’t have possibly come from her, as if she was an ogre or a witch from the Hive, or something just as evil and wretched, and fired into Baekhyun’s heart with the rifle he had given her.

The shower’s water had gone cold— freezing, even. Baekhyun jolted awake with a gasp, as if he had dived into a freezing pool. Vision blurry and body trembling violently, he fumbled to turn the spray off. For a moment, the man only stood there, shivering and blinking, before letting out a shaky sigh and stepping out of the old bathtub, making a quick grab for his towel.

He had been keen on escaping any sort of interrogation by Chanyeol after his confrontation with Yixing, questions evident in the Titan’s face. Baekhyun had rushed into the bathroom for the shower he claimed to have yearned for since they had left Earth.

However, there was something strangely liberating at finally being unmasked by someone completely, even if the guilt within Baekhyun hadn’t eased up. It came as no surprise to the scavenger when, under the constant and warm drizzle of water, his eyes began to droop without warning as the adrenaline and tension wore off.

It also came as no surprise that he couldn’t have a pleasant, uneventful nap, as brief –or not, his fingers pruned and sensitive— as it had been. Baekhyun attempted to remember the last non-fitful snooze he had been able to catch as he furiously towelled himself into some semblance of warmth and found himself drawing a blank.

Really, how long had he been in the shower? Baekhyun sighed once more as he rubbed his chest gingerly, over the spot the bizarre Taeyeon of his nightmares had taken a shot. His skin was red and irritated there. Why her, of all people? Why had the Darkness chosen to taunt him with Taeyeon? Why now?

 _You couldn’t even love me right_. Her words echoed in his mind, and while it rang true, Baekhyun hadn’t betrayed his people, tricked his friends and family, created a little Ghost, and lost his ship only to lose it all at the hands of his ex-girlfriend’s phantom.

“You’re gonna have to try harder than that.” Baekhyun muttered morosely to no one at all. If the subtle shift in the room’s atmosphere was anything to go by, his challenge hadn’t gone unheeded. He hastened his pace, and dried and dressed quickly.

He was still shivering when he made his way back into his room, hair still damp and irrevocably messy. Baekhyun had expected to find Chanyeol already tucked into the bed, on his way to sleep if not already asleep— instead, the Guardian was perched by the window, arms crossed and a frown in place. When he spotted Baekhyun, his expression softened only a little, and he gestured the other man to come closer without a word.

Baekhyun gently closed the door behind him and walked towards Chanyeol. He wrapped an arm around the blond’s waist just because he could, and Chanyeol immediately uncrossed his arms to be able to drape one of them over Baekhyun’s shoulders. His warmth was welcome. Chanyeol pulled the smaller male closer.

“What are we looking at?” Baekhyun asked, and Chanyeol pointed wordlessly to the barn. There were lights coming from it, even though hardly anyone stepped outside at this hour of the night. Baekhyun hummed in surprise.

“Commander, Kris, Xiumin, _and Luhan_ all went into it while you were out,” The Titan explained. “Not sure what for. I was about to go get you and tell you about it, but the funniest thing happened.”

“What’s that?”

“Baekbeom snuck in through the roof.” Chanyeol revealed, bemused.

Baekhyun cracked a small smile of pride. “Ah, that’s my brother. I knew he still had it in him.”

“I suppose you did have to have gotten ‘it’ from somewhere,” Chanyeol remarked. “What do you think they’re doing without us?”

“What leaders often do without their foot soldiers,” Baekhyun observed, tearing his eyes from the barn to be able to appreciate Chanyeol’s arm. It was the first time he saw them bare like this, since the day they met didn’t really count. They were muscled and veiny and littered with some tattoos. Baekhyun was certain no one would blame him for feeling his mouth a bit drier at the sight. “Strategise. Hey, you have _really_ good arms. Why were you hiding this from me?”

Chanyeol blushed, but only scowled as if that would keep him from floundering under Baekhyun’s gaze. “I haven’t been hiding them. My arms are always around. They’re attached to me.”

“But bulky Titan armour really hinders the view, you know?”

“Okay, stop flirting with me,” Chanyeol demanded, though it was too flustered to be really taken seriously by Baekhyun, who poked Chanyeol’s bicep experimentally. Chanyeol yelped and withdrew his arm, which really disappointed Baekhyun. “W-What’s happening outside is what’s important. What are they strategising without us?”

“Why would they need us there for? They’re the Vanguard.” Baekhyun reminded the other lazily, stepping away and going towards the bed. He opened the sheets in his preferred side. “We did our job, which was finding them and reuniting them. Now they gotta do theirs, which is figuring out a way to win over Ghaul and take the City back or whatever. Luhan’s there because why the fuck would you bring an ex-Commander in if you’re not gonna use them? I’d like an ex-Commander in my roster. Baekbeommie’s just nosy.”

“Great analysis, Skulking Fox,” Chanyeol deadpanned, turning away and looking once more outside. “I think we should be there, though. Maybe we should sneak in like Baekbeom did—”

“—I don’t think so,” Baekhyun shot the other down immediately with a snort. “I’m staying right here. Let your Vanguard lead.”

The scavenger slipped under the covers. Truth be told, he didn’t want to know _anything_ about what was brewing in that barn. He was way in too deep as it was.

**you just want to swim back to the shore**

“Exactly,” He answered without thinking. Chanyeol gave him a strange look, and it was Baekhyun’s turn to blush. At least he didn’t feel any sort of pang of pain in the head upon talking to disembodied voices. Baekhyun cleared his throat and deflected, “We’ll hear all about the Vanguard’s plans tomorrow for sure. I know they’re a new team, but they’ve known each other for a while. Trust them.”

The Guardian watched the scavenger for a moment or two and Baekhyun could see how Chanyeol was considering this. Only for once, Baekhyun was happy Kris was right about the Guardians listening to him.

“Do you trust them?” Chanyeol finally asked sincerely. Baekhyun nodded instantly.

“I do. I even trust Luhan.” Baekhyun declared, and the blond Titan chuckled, as he finally moved away from the window and towards the bed.

“Yeah, we’re gonna talk about how terrible that idea was in the morning,” Chanyeol threatened in the gentlest way someone could threaten another person with a conversation. He, too, slipped into the bed and snuggled into them. “But can you see why it’s hard to just… Let them be?”

“Of course, Crota’s End, I get it,” Baekhyun teased, and grinned when Chanyeol groaned into his pillow. “You’re a big ol’ control freak. Also, it’s a lot of pressure riding on three strangers.”

“Yeah.” Chanyeol acquiesced reluctantly.

“But before the Kingslayers, there was Suho, the original Iron Lord. Xiumin, he’s a hero from the Twilight Gap itself. And Kris is heavily involved in the Ghost Community Theatre, you know?” The grey-haired man joked, but then grew more serious. “Don’t ever let him know— but Kris is extremely capable. He was a War Lord, once, converted as you see him. And one hell of a Sparrow rider.”

“I didn’t know that,” Chanyeol replied quietly. “I hardly know them.”

“I hardly know you,” Baekhyun retorted. “I hardly knew you when I brought you here at all. And yet here you are, in my bed. I trust you enough not to try and choke me while I sleep.”

“I wouldn’t do that.” Chanyeol promised, perhaps softer than intended. “And we know each other a little. We could always get to know each other more, if you wanted. But you don’t want to.”

Baekhyun felt almost challenged then. He glared at Chanyeol, who only smirked at him, as if he knew what he was doing. The bastard probably did.

“Well, we have all night,” The grey-haired man drawled, and pointed to the prominent tattoo of an abstract guitar –or was it two moons?— on Chanyeol’s forearm. “What’s that about?”

Chanyeol looked down at the offending part of skin. “Oh, this? Well. I don’t know. It was there when I got rezz’ed.”

That was a bust. Baekhyun tried again, pointing towards a random assortment of numbers and a letter encased in a small rectangle.

“No idea, either.”

Baekhyun huffed. He poked at a monkey right under Chanyeol’s elbow with purpose, making the Titan complain and rub at it.

“I don’t know!” Chanyeol exclaimed, and he actually seemed like he was getting slightly upset. “All of these were already there when I got here.”

Baekhyun took pity on him. He sighed, and shuffled closer to the Titan under the bedsheets, and made a grab for Chanyeol’s hidden hand. Chanyeol, responsive as ever, put the tattooed arm over Baekhyun, and the scavenger caught inked letters on one of his fingers in the faint light of his nightlamp. Whoever Chanyeol had been, at least Baekhyun knew they had a penchant for impulsive art on their skins.

“You must’ve been an interesting fellow,” Baekhyun commented, and when Chanyeol just hummed kind of sadly, he added: “You’re still a very interesting fellow.”

“I probably was.” Chanyeol agreed. “And I definitely am. I have hobbies, you know? I just haven’t had a chance to express them, with us being in middle of a war and all.”

“I can totally see how that would hinder your hobbies.” Baekhyun joked, and he felt butterflies at the almost breathless laughter he got from Chanyeol, the man moving forward with the chortling, head falling on Baekhyun’s chest slowly. “So, tell me. What do you like to do? When we’re not in a war.”

Chanyeol laughed again, Baekhyun relishing in the sound. There was something too delighted –and delightful— in the deep, booming sound, even when it was quiet. He wanted to touch Chanyeol’s hair. He allowed his free hand to fall on the blond strands.

“I like cooking a lot,” The Titan said, pleased with the attention he was receiving. “I like astronomy. I like bowling. Going to sing karaoke with my friends. Petting animals. Playing the guitar.”

“You play the guitar?” Baekhyun perked up and whistled. He was already starting to feel his eyes closing, Chanyeol’s warmth and voice like a balm for his soul. “Where did you learn?”

There was silence as Chanyeol reached over Baekhyun to turn off the lamp on the nightstand. The Guardian used the opportunity to fully hug Baekhyun, as it had become routine. This was a routine Baekhyun was happy to get used to, even if he knew it wouldn’t last.

“I actually don’t remember,” Chanyeol said at last, sounding surprised. “I think… I think I may have carried that from my other life.”

Baekhyun smiled with his eyes already closed. “I knew it. You had that musician vibe.”

Chanyeol didn’t say anything to that, perhaps mulling over such a concrete clue of his past. Baekhyun used the opportunity to change their positions, and instead burrow his face in Chanyeol’s chest, and the Titan let out an exhale. Baekhyun could feel the Titan’s heartbeat going very fast.

 _He’s so cute_ , he thought sleepily, _it’s impossible to ignore him._

“Do you like musicians, Baekhyun?” He heard Chanyeol whisper. “Sleep. I’ll keep you safe.”

Baekhyun didn’t have time to argue that Chanyeol couldn’t keep him safe as he slept, when sleeping was the problem. And it would have been easy, anyway— to drift off in spite of that. The Titan was warm and comforting.

Instead, Baekhyun waited. He waited until it was Chanyeol’s breath the one that had slowed down, the Guardian even softly snoring. And when he was certain the Titan wouldn’t stir, he snaked his way out of his arms and out of the bed.

What Chanyeol didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. Surely, he would be able to forgive Baekhyun for sneaking out without him. He had no interest in what the Vanguard was planning, anyway. He needed his brother.

The scavenger moved like a shadow down the stairs and into the main hall of the house. He was unpleasantly surprised when he saw that Baekbeom was allowing that War Beast of Queen inside the home, particularly in their living room. It was a scary dog, even when it napped so peacefully. Baekhyun made a face at her even if she couldn’t see it— nor cared. He opened the door as quietly as he could, mindful of its creaking.

Hodong’s makeshift bar was quite alive, raucous laughter and talking coming out of it, and it made Baekhyun smile. The regulars were quite a rowdy bunch. He was also thankful for them, because it made it all the easier to sneak, even if he was already barefoot and light. They didn’t really call him Skulking Fox for nothing.

When he passed the half-torn down barn, he could hear some voices. It was likely he had missed the bulk of the conversation, not that he minded. When he was close enough, he just let out a low bird-like whistle for merely a moment. Baekbeom would recognise him— never mind that the Guardians would, too, if they wanted to. Baekhyun counted on them not wanting to, and he kept walking towards the cliff on the other side of the farm.

He remembered how, the first day he had been here after the invasion, he had walked with Baekbeom in the other direction— towards the Shard. Now, further from the Light as he felt, it seemed fitting to walk to the grand lake instead.

Baekbeom took only a few minutes before joining him. The older man sat right next to Baekhyun, who had his legs dangling on the small cliff like a child on a too-big chair. His brother sighed with something akin to distress.

“Must you do that?” Baekbeom asked. “It makes me really nervous when you’re so close to ledges. I need to fence this whole part before Taehyung can walk properly.”

“He’s gonna do that before you even realise.” Baekhyun warned him playfully.

“Do you have to remind me?” Baekbeom started dangling his legs as well, although it was nervously. “I remember when you began walking— no, _running_. Cotton socks, it made me so nervous you’d fall down the stairs.”

“You were a father of three by the time you were eight,” Baekhyun snickered at his brother, who punched his shoulder good-naturedly. “Don’t blame me for that!”

“You did count for three toddlers, anyway. You still do.”

Baekhyun pouted at him, but it was only for show and Baekbeom could tell. The eldest Byun sighed once more and stretched.

“So, the Vanguard have a two-step plan,” Baekbeom began, unprompted. “First step is dismantling the Almighty without destroying it. Second step is sneaking into the Last City and taking the Cabal by surprise.”

“Really?” Baekhyun hummed. “And how do they plan to reach the Almighty?”

“They’ll tell you tomorrow, surely,” Baekbeom replied vaguely. “Because guess who got the starring role.”

It took Baekhyun a beat or two to realise what his brother meant. When he finally did, he groaned, and rested his head over Baekbeom’s shoulder, who laughed at his pain.

“Why?” Baekhyun moaned. Baekbeom shrugged.

“Maybe if you stopped being good at stealing stuff, they wouldn’t consider you. Don’t worry, though. You’re not expected to do the heavy lifting. I mean, you _were_ pretty torn about everything today, after all. They know they can’t burn you out like that.”

There was something in Baekbeom’s tone that gave him an opening. Baekhyun seized the opportunity immediately.

“Lay knows.”

Baekbeom turned to Baekhyun, frowning. Baekhyun refused to look at his brother just yet, and instead, chewed on his lip. “Not the whole story. He knows I’m somehow involved in the invasion. He couldn’t fully confront me, nor I think he wants to— he’s gonna ride it out, I guess.”

“Smart,” Baekbeom appraised, and only then did his younger brother look at him in confusion. “Oh, come on. Imagine the chaos it would sow if he just went out with it right now. The Guardians, they hang onto your every word. It would break their hearts. Lay’s heart is probably broken right now.”

Baekhyun dropped his head against Baekbeom’s shoulder once more. “I broke Kai’s heart today. I managed to make him forget, but…”

“So that’s what got you so sad?” Baekbeom wondered, and when Baekhyun meekly nodded, he chuckled. “Thank the Traveller for Chanyeol Park. How did you make him forget?”

Even if Chanyeol’s mention made him smile, Baekhyun’s expression soured once more at the reminder of Kai, even if he had brought it up. “The Darkness helped out.”

“I would suppose ‘helped out’ is being used as a very broad term, here.” Baekbeom remarked. “After your message from Nessus, I… I’ll admit I was angry. But I can understand why you did it. The City… It never really brought us much other than pain, did it?”

“It’s really weird to be thinking about saving it when I hated it so much,” Baekhyun admitted. Baekbeom shook his head. “What? You don’t think it’s weird?”

There was a silence as Baekbeom seemed to find the right words.

“Why would it be weird to save the one place you’ve always wanted to be accepted in?” The older mused. “You’ve always wanted to fit in, Baekhyunnie. You’ve always wanted to see the Guardians and the people smile at you. It hurts you a lot when they don’t. If it didn’t, you would’ve moved out here with me ages ago.”

Well. Baekhyun couldn’t deny that.

“You’ll make things right, Baekhyun,” Baekbeom finished. “I’m certain of that. Let’s go to sleep.”

People couldn’t really stop wondering about the one that got away, they said.

At least here, in this moment, Baekhyun didn’t have to wonder. There was no mistaking the chest he was pressed against. There was no mistaking the large hand gingerly scratching his nape. There was no mistaking the scent of a woodsy cologne Baekhyun always made fun of yet secretly enjoyed. There was no mistaking Kris.

The garden was the same as it always was, even if it was night-time. However, there was a lonely lamp post, under which they stood, and a phantom tune Baekhyun recognised as coming from— well, there was a bar supposed to be there, but there were only flowers. He couldn’t find it within himself to be disconcerted— dreams unavoidably took the novelty from things. However, there was a nagging feeling telling him to be careful, even if he could not place why.

Kris wouldn’t hurt him. Not intentionally, anyway.

“We can’t, Baekhyunnie,” Kris sounded terribly fond and terribly pained at the same time, as he pressed a kiss to Baekhyun’s temple. “You know we can’t.”

Ah. Baekhyun remembered this. It was a fight. A bad memory. Kris would hurt him, here. He had been crying like a baby throughout the whole night, thinking Kris was so unfair, breaking his heart like this. He would refuse to talk to him unless it was strictly necessary for nearly two years.

He wondered if his lucidity was enough to change the course of things, maybe get back all those years of Ghost Community Theatre he had missed due to his own stubbornness, but before he could even try, the words tumbled out of his mouth.

“We _can_ , we could, we should,” Baekhyun heard himself say automatically. His voice had been but a mere whisper back then, broken and spent. Now, he sounded detached, as if reading the words off a book. It bothered him, even if he gripped Kris tighter. “We’d be happy, Yifan.”

Baekhyun’s felt how that familiar old name he hadn’t mentioned in so long tugged at his heartstrings. Kris sighed heavily, as if Baekhyun had put the burden of the whole world over his shoulders. Perhaps, to the Hunter, he had.

“For how long?” Kris questioned. Baekhyun had been quick to answer then, and he was still quick now— even if now he knew it had been a lie.

“My whole life,” Baekhyun sentenced. “I’ll love you my whole life, if you let me.”

Kris pulled him back by his hair, albeit it was gentle and sweet. The Hunter was rough around the edges, but he was genuinely taken with Baekhyun— Baekhyun had always known this. But—

“You’re so young, Baekhyun, you have no idea.” Kris finally replied, not smiling at Baekhyun, just looking extremely sad. “I’ve lived your life twenty times. I’ve already seen you change so much in so little time. I know— this is—”

– _just a crush_ , Baekhyun willed him to say. He knew how this went. He would cry and kick and scream at Kris, for not taking him seriously, accuse him of being a coward, dare him to look him in the eye and say he didn’t love him just like Baekhyun felt he did.

But this Kris deviated.

“—This could be something,” Kris finished, closing off. “But you’re not worth the pain. You’ll never be enough.”

Baekhyun stared at Kris in disbelief. Something strange and painful formed in his stomach like a coil, like a snake.

“You’re like a butterfly,” Kris continued, though now Baekhyun doubted it had ever been Kris to begin with. He lifted his head, defiant, willing the Hunter with darkening features to continue. “Yet your beauty couldn’t distract me from your short life.”

And then suddenly, Kris’s fingers were around his throat, restricting Baekhyun’s breathing. The scavenger panicked for a moment, grabbing onto the Guardian’s arms, and he crashed painfully against the unnatural lamp post.

“Let me shorten it more for you.” Not-Kris smirked, like a hyena. “Is this hard enough for you?”

**this is your brother in arms**

**do not allow it to take that from you**

Incensed, Baekhyun closed his eyes for a moment— then, he twisted his body as much he could, using the lamp post to be able to spin and bend Kris’s elbows. It was easy to escape this hold, and the creature in front of him hadn’t exactly stopped him. He pushed Kris away harshly, his body getting into a fighting stance. Kris merely watched him, still grinning madly.

Baekhyun’s voice was scratchy. “Try harder.”

This wasn’t Kris, of course. It didn’t have Kris’s strength or strategies— it was something else. Something more powerful. Something enough to reduce Baekhyun in a matter of seconds, as he roared an abominable sound. Baekhyun’s head met the lamp post once more, and he felt his skull break under the pressure.

He was being watched— he was certain. Baekhyun opened his eyes with a startle and found Kyungsoo’s big owlish eyes staring right back at him. The grey-haired man screamed and backed away, clashing onto Chanyeol’s body, who reacted straight away by also yelling and spluttering into consciousness.

“Kyungsoo!” Jongdae squawked in reproach. “You scared them!”

“Oops,” The small Titan intoned, without a single tinge of regret in his voice. In fact, Baekhyun could see he was trying not to smirk. He was squatting right by Baekhyun’s bed, while Jongdae lingered behind him with his arms crossed. “I’m so sorry.”

Rattled and still reeling, Baekhyun first grabbed onto his own neck, as if to check if it was still there. Kyungsoo watched him, but Baekhyun paid him no mind as he closed his eyes again and took a deep breath. His head was pounding. Chanyeol, by his side, let out a long-suffering whine as he clutched his heart dramatically.

“Why are you guys here?” The tall Guardian questioned grumpily. “It’s too early to be starting shit.”

“It’s never too early to start shit,” Jongdae countered. “Sorry for cutting down on your cuddling time— actually, you know what? I’m not sorry at all. All you ever do is cuddle. We have a lot to do, and what better time to do them than the crack of dawn?”

Baekhyun dug the heels of his palms into his eyes as he sat up slowly. When he tried to speak, his voice came out broken, and he cleared his throat to try again. “What— what is it exactly? Can’t you take your Guardian business elsewhere?”

“Our Guardian business requires you, Baekhyun Byun.” The brunet Warlock claimed. His usually playful expression acquired a softer quality. “What’s the matter? Do you feel like sleeping?”

Baekhyun blinked at him, and then looked down at Kyungsoo, followed by a glance at Chanyeol. One Titan merely watched him attentively, while the taller of the two got out of bed and just walked out, possibly towards the bathroom. He turned back to Jongdae and nodded. “As a matter of fact, I do, yeah.”

“No sleeping for you, Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo commanded with the lack of tact that seemed to define him. “At least, not until we figure this out.”

Baekhyun squinted at the Guardian. “What did exactly Chanyeol tell you?”

Jongdae half-smiled at Baekhyun and shook his head. “Sleep is the last thing you need right now, Baekhyun. The more waking moments you get, the better.”

Right. Chanyeol had indeed told Kyungsoo and Jongdae about Baekhyun’s infection— or rather, informed Kyungsoo and probably compared notes with Jongdae. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this.

**listen to them**

**they wish to help**

**truly**

**much more than—**

Baekhyun shushed at seemingly nothing. He pretended to have failed and whistle as he too got up, but he had a feeling he hadn’t been able to trick the Guardians.

“Alright, doctor,” He deflected instead. “What is it that you need me for?”

Kyungsoo, either out of pity or out of duty, took the bait and changed the subject. “Luhan was pretty certain yesterday that Sungwoo is looking for the farm and trying to find us. The Commander has ordered us to find a way to communicate with him without breaking the integrity of the cloaking, so we don’t have a repeat of yesterday. Granted, I don’t know how trustworthy Luhan’s hearsay is, but—”

“—But that fucking asshole is the closest we’re getting to a radar until Sehun learns how to use his visions better,” Jongdae interjected, as if it pained him to admit it. It probably did. “I remembered that woman— Tiffany? She had set up the initial transmission beacons over Trostland, didn’t she? We asked her where she thought would be a good broadcasting spot that wasn’t ridiculously obvious, and she suggested the Reservoir.”

“And the only one who knows a good, undetectable way into the Reservoir is you, of course,” Kyungsoo added as Chanyeol walked back in. His hair was still quite messy, but at least he looked more awake. Baekhyun tried not to stare, by concentrating on stretching instead.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to just get some beacons back on the salt mines? We were gone two days and Baekbeom is kinda neurotic. Did the Fallen and Cabal really take over so much?”

“Those desperate cockroaches and bloodthirsty wolves?” Kyungsoo offered, as he stood up, and offered Baekhyun a piece of fabric from his dresser. He made a face of distaste at it, but still handed the poncho over. “Sounds like two days would be more than enough for them.”

Baekhyun examined the poncho in his hands. It was bloody and torn, singed even in some places. He would need a new one soon. Still, with little regard for the Guardians present, he began undressing from his pyjamas and into his gear. Kyungsoo and Jongdae both looked away, although Chanyeol lingered just a bit before following suit, concentrating on his own armour.

“I’m gonna need some gloves.” Baekhyun muttered, as he assessed himself in the mirror. He attempted to grin at his reflection, to try and gain some semblance of his usual cheerfulness. There were some faint bruises on his neck, and he pulled the poncho higher. It was hard, but at least he was presentable. “Have any of you seen Mongryong around?”

“He’s with Ink,” Jongdae answered smoothly. “Actually, so are Pepper and Toben. We’re leaving them behind for this mission.”

“Wait, really?” Baekhyun questioned with a frown. He was surprised that Chanyeol didn’t seem to be bothered by this.

“A little Ghost bonding could do them good.” The tall Titan suggested instead, shrugging. Baekhyun frowned further.

“O-kay,” He said slowly. “Uhm. Well. I still need some grips or something. I’m gonna get some.”

“I’ll come with you.” Kyungsoo announced. Baekhyun was followed by Kyungsoo outside. The scavenger realised slowly that indeed it was dawn, and the house was mostly silent. He was careful as he headed downstairs, reminiscent of sneaking out at night.

“Are we doing this with permission?” He asked.

“Like you care about permission,” The Titan mumbled behind Baekhyun, who threw back a glare. He slid into the kitchen, careful not to disturb the supposedly tame War Beast under the table. She was chewing on Yeongja’s carpet, but Baekhyun wasn’t about to stop her. Kyungsoo kept talking. “Like I said, these are the Commander’s orders. While you were out yesterday, we were doing a little bit of planning.”

“Ah,” Baekhyun let out, as he looked into a particular cupboard. He felt something thick and leather-y and pulled Baekbeom’s old grips out. They were slightly too big for Baekhyun, but they’d work for the moment. “That’s good. I like it when Guardians take charge.”

“Yet, we still need you with us.” Kyungsoo replied, though he sounded angry about it. Baekhyun turned to him with a tight smile. He had a hard time understanding what Kyungsoo wanted from him, if he wanted anything at all.

“What is that you want to say, Kyungsoo? Because I’m really not following.”

Kyungsoo didn’t answer. If he was planning on saying anything, he was interrupted by Chanyeol and Jongdae noisily coming down the stairs, and Chanyeol swinging with his helmet tucked under his arm by the kitchen.

“Wanna bet we can come back before breakfast?” The blond asked, voice booming and startling the Queen. The creature growled in warning, making Chanyeol jump. “Oh! Sorry, Queen!”

“We can make that bet, but we’ll need to take the Arrowhawk,” Baekhyun side-stepped the strange dog, still wary of her. “Can I drive?”

Baekhyun was not allowed to drive. Jongdae, as it turned out, was very particular about his ship— with it being so pretty, though, Baekhyun could understand his reticence. At least, the scavenger was allowed to be the co-pilot, as the only person in the craft who knew how to get to the old water facility, despite how straightforward it seemed to be.

“Those waterfalls on the other side of the lake aren’t natural,” He explained to the Guardians as he pointed towards said cascading waters in the distance. “That’s the Reservoir. It’s as old as Trostland itself, and yet it still works. It’s what gives running water to this place. You could turn on an old sink anywhere in Trostland and it should work just fine.”

“That’s weird but useful,” Jongdae observed. “Is there a way into it through the town?”

Baekhyun nodded. “Sure, but if Trostland is really as active as Baekbeom thinks it is, I wouldn’t risk it.” He fiddled with Jongdae’s radio, ignoring the protests the Warlock proffered as he lifted the Arrowhawk off the landing pad. Sure enough, there was some sort of Fallen chatter, if not Cabal, on almost every channel. He hummed. “I guess Baekbeom isn’t that neurotic. I wouldn’t put it past the Fallen to go and take over the Reservoir, either.”

“We’ll be prepared for them,” Kyungsoo assured him seriously.

“With no Ghosts to heal you? I know first aid, but I’m not that good at it.” Baekhyun responded, as airy as he could— in truth, he was very suspicious of these Guardians’ intentions. He had the conviction that this Sungwoo business was only a distraction— the former Hunter Vanguard was missing, and if he was anything like Baekhyun knew him to be, he wouldn’t fly right into the thick of things, promise of a safe farm or not.

**do not be afraid**

“I am not afraid,” He retorted, but ducked his head when he realised none of the Guardians had actually spoken. He began instructing Jongdae: “Go through the lake, close to the water. Cloak us if you have to. When we’re by the waterfalls, go to the top. There’s platforms we can transmat on there.”

“Sure thing,” Jongdae said nonchalantly. “Is there anything to be afraid of, Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun just smiled.

“You tell me,” He began. “What are you really planning here?”

He heard Chanyeol take a deep breath behind him, certainly with comforting words at the tip of his tongue. Unfortunately, Kyungsoo beat him to the punch.

“An intervention.” The smaller, brunet Titan replied with no pretence, making Chanyeol choke and Jongdae squawk.

“For the love of the Light, Kyungsoo!” Jongdae complained loudly. “Do you _want_ him to lash out at us?!”

“Maybe,” Kyungsoo admitted, and Baekhyun turned to look at him in disbelief. The Titan had a remarkable control over his facial expressions, something Chanyeol –with his eyes and mouth twitching to try and hide something— lacked. “Mostly, I’d like to see what Baekhyun’s capable of.”

“Hurting you isn’t something I’m capable of, Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun defended himself, though it rang untrue even to his own ears. He was seriously doubting himself after yesterday, after all. “Even if you really make me want to.”

“I think you’re not even aware of what you _are_ capable of,” Kyungsoo retorted, somewhat morosely. “That’s the worst part. That’s what worries me. I know you did something to Jongin and Monggu yesterday.”

Baekhyun was rendered speechless. His body felt chilled to the bone, all of the sudden. He didn’t dare to look away from Kyungsoo, though his hand lowered to the Ace of Spades hooked to his hip very slowly.

 **this is your ally**

**this is your friend**

**you should trust him**

“Oh, fuck, you’re taking me to execute me,” Baekhyun bemoaned.

“What?!” Chanyeol yelled, eyes widening comically. “No!”

“Yes, we are,” Kyungsoo countered, deadpan.

“No, we’re not! Stop scaring him!” Chanyeol boomed, and he pulled on Kyungsoo’s hair with little regards for his own safety. The snarl the other Titan gave him was actually quite formidable, and Chanyeol cowered, but didn’t back down. “Baekhyun, we’re not gonna execute you! It’s the opposite of that!”

“Kyungsoo, please behave,” Jongdae ordered, long-sufferingly. “We’re almost there.”

The damage was done, though. Baekhyun’s breath started coming out in quick, shallow puffs, as his mind screamed at him over and over that Kyungsoo knew. Kyungsoo knew what he had done to Jongin and Monggu. Kyungsoo knew. He knew. He knew. Heknewheknewheknew—

“—Stop panicking,” Kyungsoo commanded with little tact, though he did look somewhat guilty, his expression changing minutely. “Whatever you did, it didn’t harm them in any way. If anything, Jongin’s just convinced he helped you out when we all know he couldn’t have helped at all. I mean, just look at the state of you.”

“How can you ask me not to panic?!” Baekhyun demanded, effectively panicking. “You tricked me! You tricked me and you’re gonna kill me! I didn’t mean to do anything to Kai at all!”

“Okay, so maybe we tricked you a little bit—” Jongdae began, and Baekhyun interrupted by crying out: “I trusted you and now you’ll kill me!”

“Okay, that’s it,” Chanyeol decided, and before Baekhyun’s hand could hover any longer over his hand cannon, there were strong arms around him, restricting his movement. “Kyungsoo!”

Baekhyun screamed for help, feeling truly betrayed. He didn’t receive any help, however— instead, fast as lightning, Kyungsoo produced a thick sack Baekhyun recognised as one of RM’s potato sacks and covered the scavenger’s face. He struggled, attempting to escape Chanyeol even if his seat didn’t allow him much movement, and all he received for his blind efforts was a punch to the face. It effectively knocked him out.

A mother’s love was unconditional, they said.

They held hands as they walked, with the woman guiding Baekhyun as they perused empty stalls misplaced in the garden. There had been a busker back then, playing an ancient French song, but there was no one here but them. His mother’s grip was tight and protective, as if to keep Baekhyun from running away or get taken away. Baekhyun thought it was comical, with how maybe when this memory had happened, he only reached her hips— now, he had a full head over Sora Byun.

He yawned. Another memory-turned-dream. He couldn’t really remember the other ones, but he could feel they were recent. Something kept whispering at him to be extremely careful this time.

He yawned again, louder.

His mother abruptly turned her body towards him, and kneeled. It made no sense for her to kneel, with how he was taller than her, but dreams never did make much sense. He merely kneeled with her, so they could be at eye level.

She looked just like he remembered her— in her last days. Beautiful, with so few wrinkles, eyes droopy like his own. Sickly. Frail. Exhausted.

Baekhyun felt the urge to hug her close, but he just yawned again. She cupped his cheeks with her pretty hands and sighed with concern.

“You keep doing that,” Sora said— it hit Baekhyun suddenly how long it had been since he had heard her voice so clearly. It felt so real. His eyes became glassy, and he almost cursed the almost tears for blurring this vision of her. “Are you tired, Baekhyunnie? Does anything hurt?”

Sora Byun would take him to the hospital that day, worried sick over his excessive yawning. He had been only four, but he remembered this vividly. Hospitals scared him. But he couldn’t, for the life of him, remember what the cause of his yawns was.

He was supposed to tell his mother that his tummy ached. Instead, he found the strength to divert from the set path of the memory, and nuzzled her hands, taking his own up to grasp hers. If she was surprised by the change of course, she didn’t show it. She smiled warmly at her youngest son, and her thumb grazed the small cut on his cheek.

“You really,” A yawn interrupted his words. “Outdid yourself. I told you to go harder, and you went for my mother. Very cruel.”

Sora’s nails stopped caressing and began digging, ever so slightly, onto Baekhyun’s cheeks.

**remember**

**this is a game**

“You’re trying to tempt me,” He recalled in wonder.

“Tempt you? No,” His mother –the monster of his dreams, the nightmare— answered with a light chuckle. “I’m merely showing you my glory.”

“Mom,” He called the woman in front of him, not allowing his eyes to stray from her features. She had been so beautiful. He missed her terribly. “Are you okay, wherever you are?”

There was little honesty to expect from such a nightmare, of an abomination so intent in playing with him, like a cat toying with the mouse before it devoured it whole. She laughed again, heartily this time, just like Baekhyun reminisced his mother sounding like.

“That depends on where you want me to be,” Sora countered, repeating the words of a different memory— one that had stuck with the grey-haired man. “Am I in the Collective with your grandfather? Am I drowning in the Deep with your father? Am I dreaming with you in the Garden?”

Her nails were full on scratching now, hurting him. He didn’t attempt to stop her, even if his hold on her hands tightened.

“I’d rather have you still with us,” Baekhyun confessed earnestly. “You’d like the farm Baekbeom built. You’d like Yeongja— though she’d keep you on your toes. You’d like Taehyung. He’s adorable.”

“I cannot suffer, where I am,” His mother sentenced easily, and there was something warm on his face. “There is no sorrow in death. Imagine the things that would suffer and never die without me. Imagine a world without me.”

He pried her hands away from his face. There was blood on her fingers, but her smile hadn’t wavered. It was still her, but the glint in her eyes was calculating. It was dark. It was—

**T H E D A R K N E S S I T S E L F**

“You have no right to exist, Baekhyun Byun,” Sora claimed, but it was no longer Sora. “Surrender. Purge your suffering. Kill the light-borne. Let me have the one who was chosen twice.”

**do not let it win**

**this was the one who gave you life**

Baekhyun didn’t say anything. He let go of her hands and stretched up. She remained kneeling, staring up at him with defiance.

“Or is this shape not convincing enough?” She asked, seemingly amused.

He smirked down at her, with a false confidence to it. “When did I ever listen to you, mommy dearest?”

When she stood as well, slowly, she was taller than him. Towering over him, even, more so than Chanyeol or Kris could. It was unnatural. She was twisting into something else. But he refused to be threatened by a nightmare— as real as it was.

“Try harder,” He whispered.

Her mouth opened into a terrible, gaping hole as she roared and dived for him.

It was a harsh pull what brought him back to reality, and suddenly, Baekhyun could see again. He was met face to face with a guilty-looking Chanyeol, whose eyes grew to the size of saucers when he saw Baekhyun.

“What the fuck?” The Titan exclaimed, deep voice echoing loudly through the Reservoir, even through the constant running of water. “What the hell happened to him?!”

Baekhyun quickly realised _him_ meant himself. Kyungsoo and Jongdae were suddenly crowding him as well, and Baekhyun backed away with fright. Chanyeol grabbed onto his shoulders to keep him still and soothe him, and it managed to relax him just a tiny bit.

“Did you really punch him that hard?” Jongdae questioned in shock. Chanyeol flushed and Baekhyun tensed again, pushing Chanyeol away.

“I-It was an accident!” The blond cried out petulantly. “I didn’t mean to punch you, Baekhyun! You were squirming so much!”

“ _You_ were the one who punched me?!” Baekhyun balked. Chanyeol whined.

“Accidentally!”

“Chanyeol has a remarkable lack of control over his limbs,” Kyungsoo interjected, his eyes trailing over Baekhyun’s face. “Those aren’t bruises, anyway. Those… Are scratches. Nail scratches. How did you get those in the three minutes that have passed since we transmatted here?”

“Clearly the infection is worse than we thought,” Jongdae proclaimed morosely.

“What are you talking about? Will any of you explain to me why the fuck did you decide to kidnap me?!” Baekhyun yelled, shrinking into himself defensively. He felt like a cornered cat, ready to slash at any of them to escape. “My infection is my business! Haven’t I made that clear?”

“It’s not just your business when you’re this sick overnight,” Chanyeol attempted to mollify Baekhyun. “You wouldn’t have come willingly if we didn’t have a reason. Don’t give me that look, you know you wouldn’t have! And we figured you’d appreciate the privacy. Suho’s mission fell from the sky, okay?”

“And what exactly were you hoping to accomplish other than scaring me out of my wits?”

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae began with raised hands, as if surrendering. “We even kept our Ghosts out of this. We really, truly want to help you out. I told you so in the Tangled Shore, didn’t I? Darkness is an unpredictable disease, but whatever Luhan and you are doing is clearly not working.”

“It’s not that bad!” Baekhyun protested, though he was beginning to feel slightly more at ease. “I haven’t gone insane, have I?”

“You have been talking to voices we can’t hear and have wounds we can’t explain sprouting out of nowhere,” Kyungsoo snarked. “And it’s been less than an hour. You’re toeing the fucking line, don’t you think so?”

“Luhan said it would get worse before it got better!” Baekhyun stressed. The Guardians looked surprised at the revelation, Chanyeol clenching his jaw, and Baekhyun deflated further. “We need the actual Light to cure me at all. This has always been true. He— he just gave me more control.”

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae spoke softly. “If this is Luhan’s definition of control— well. You know? I just don’t understand why you chose to trust him when he got exiled due to too much craziness. I can’t imagine isolation did him much good, either. Without his Light, he’s completely unprotected from the Darkness he studies so much.”

“It’s less like me trusting him,” Baekhyun offered glumly. “And more of him forcing me to trust him. He needs to keep me in check and saw no better way.”

“I haven’t known you for long, but I _know_ you’re not a pushover.” Jongdae pressed, and he seemed— sad? “And you’re prideful. I don’t think he just went and bullied you into something. Why would you allow Luhan to do anything to you when you already knew you could count on me?”

Baekhyun didn’t answer at first. Kyungsoo and Chanyeol shared a meaningful look. Jongdae just continued. “I may not be the best Warlock out there, nor am I the greatest Guardian to ever live, but I was gonna help you! And I’m willing to help you now! Luhan isn’t your friend!”

“As opposed to you being my friend?” Baekhyun blurted out, and Jongdae’s face fell. Kyungsoo was the one to speak up then.

“Cut the crap, Byun,” The small Titan snapped. “We are your fucking friends whether you like it or not.”

“Even with you knowing I did something to Kai?” Baekhyun found himself pushing, and if looks could kill, he figured he would have been dead right then and there. Kyungsoo glared at him strongly, but then— the man just nodded.

“I’m here because I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt,” Kyungsoo explained in a tone that didn’t allow for any argument. “So is Jongdae. And so is Chanyeol.”

Baekhyun found himself taken aback. It resounded within him— a vote of confidence when Lay had been quick to dismiss him. When Kai had been so scared of him. Perhaps, if Lay knew, if Kai had known— if they heard the whole story from Baekhyun himself, they too would give him the benefit of the doubt.

A sucker for affection, he was. In any shape or form. Baekbeom was right.

“Luhan just understands what it’s like,” Baekhyun confessed, suddenly softening. “Also, there may have been some blackmailing involved— but Luhan is also here for his friends. For Xiumin. He wants to protect him at all costs, and he gave me an opportunity. He understands what’s it like to be judged. I know he’s kinda insane, but he…”

He trailed off. Chanyeol took the opportunity to ask: “You said yesterday that if you were alive, it was thanks to him. That being able to do things with the Darkness meant letting it advance.”

“I was losing control over it,” Baekhyun conceded. “Luhan gave me control again.”

“How did he do that?” Jongdae asked, bewildered. “More importantly— how did you have any control over the Darkness at all?”

This was it. He had a chance to tell his story, Baekhyun realised. He had a chance to keep his friends by telling them the truth.

He thought of Lay. He thought of everything he hadn’t been able to or refused to explain to the spy. How their friendship had crumbled in only a night, and Baekhyun— he doubted he could build it back up. But maybe, with the help of the Kingslayers themselves, he could.

“A couple of months ago, some Dead Orbit minion that shall remain unnamed jacked a transmission from the Corsairs in the Reef,” Baekhyun began, almost non sequitur, but the three Guardians perked up. “Something about a ship that had crashed in Cocytus, in a space station there. It was an extremely strange report. Naturally, this minion wanted more info, but they didn’t want to be directly involved, so…”

“So they hired you to check it out,” Kyungsoo supplied. Baekhyun nodded.

“So they hired me,” The grey-haired man confirmed. “I knew the basics of this place. I knew the Awoken moved Cocytus to an orbit around the sun, and I knew there was an abandoned space station, and I knew that there were portals that took you to Crota’s throne world. I honestly thought it would just be a stealth job, hiding from the Corsairs, if there were any. But before I even made it there, when I was passing by our Moon, my ship detected a strange disturbance. I contacted Jongok immediately to let her know. And she—” He pursed his lips in disapproval. “—she told me go check it out. I obliged.”

“What was the disturbance?” Chanyeol requested. Baekhyun tutted and shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest. “All you gotta know is the Vanguard was well aware of what was going on and had decided to turn a blind eye to it.”

“Okay,” Chanyeol let it slide, albeit hesitantly. “So, what happened?”

Baekhyun paused.

“What I’ve gathered is that that’s where I got infected, but I don’t exactly remember what went down,” He admitted reluctantly. “It’s all a haze. What I _do_ remember is jumping back into my ship, scared out of my wits, feeling sick and scared, neurites literally coming out of my skin and Jongok ordering me not to tell a single soul about anything. To keep going about with my business. And that we’d talk when I got back.”

Baekhyun shook his head, bitter. “We never really did have that talk. I just… Resented her.”

There was a silence. He sighed and decided not to dwell much on the late Vanguard. He looked over at Chanyeol.

“You say I’ve got stars in my eyes,” Baekhyun reminded him. “By the time I got to Cocytus, I was _covered_ in stars. Really on my way to being Taken. I don’t know how I even arrived, because there were Nightmares constantly.”

“What were the Nightmares?” Jongdae wondered. Baekhyun shrugged again.

“Just— enemies I faced once. Friends. Lovers. Anyone, really. Anyone and anything who had made some sort of impact on me was a source of torment. They were always screaming, or whispering, or laughing, or crying, and they felt extremely real. I call them Nightmares, but they were… They were _there_.” Baekhyun stressed. “Like they were hallucinations, but hallucinations I could touch.”

He let out a dark, humourless chuckle. “I was gonna die or be Taken. I could feel it and I could do nothing to stop it.”

He let the silence stretch then, as the Guardians took this in. Finally, it was Chanyeol who broke it.

“The gates in Cocytus became inactive after I killed Crota...” The Titan trailed off.

“Supposedly, yeah. But as it turns out, they just changed tenants.” Baekhyun replied mysteriously. Chanyeol tilted his head to the side.

“What do you mean?”

Baekhyun gingerly took a hand to rub into his eye, wincing slightly. “They don’t like it when I talk about them. You’ve found me before, in a state, because I try and communicate with them. They can’t help but hurt me. They’re too large for me.”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened in realisation, no doubt remembering Baekhyun’s episode in the forest.

“But the voices in my head…” Baekhyun reflected as the pain subsided. “I think… I think it’s been them, sometimes. It doesn’t hurt all the time. I must be getting immune.”

**or maybe i am the nicest one**

“Or maybe I am talking to the nicest one,” Baekhyun repeated in agreement.

“Large, hurtful, powerful enough to take over Crota’s portals—” Jongdae listed, and then gasped as he came to understand. “The Nine?”

There was a rumble that could be felt throughout the whole Reservoir. They were listening, after all. With the way the Titans and the Warlock looked around warily, they had been able to feel it too. Baekhyun put a finger to his lips, to signal Jongdae to keep quiet.

“I was desperate, begging for something to save me,” Baekhyun decided to carry on. “I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want to be Taken. I just wanted to go home. But I thought that, if those were my two only options, what was better? Death, surely. And I remembered reading in that report that crossing the gates meant immediate annihilation. So I figured— I’ll go out in my own terms. Immediate annihilation sounded less painful than a bullet to the head.”

The puppy dog eyes Chanyeol was giving him were too much. Baekhyun had to look away.

“Imagine my surprise when I jumped into a gate, and instead of dying, I was communing with—” He bared the pain this time, scrunching his face. “—With the Nine. Oh, fucking stop it! I’m not scared of you!”

He yelled at nothing, but it seemed to do the trick. He let out a breath and looked over at the Guardians. “They’re just constantly watching me now. One of them was watching, back then. It was just as desperate as I was. So it offered me a deal. It would save my life and give me a way to control the Darkness, if only I did a small thing for them.”

“What did the Nine want?” Kyungsoo was the one to ask.

“A body,” Baekhyun said simply.

“A body?” Chanyeol parroted in disbelief. “Why did the Nine, all-powerful beings, would want a _body_?”

“Actually, the Nine aren’t all-powerful,” Jongdae corrected the tall man. “It makes sense. From what we understand in the Tower, they’re totally dependent on the life of the planet they represent. They’re vulnerable whenever they reach out into our realm, too. And there’s two theories on what their primary concern is— either protect the life that sustains them or find a way of ending that dependence.”

The Warlock regarded Baekhyun. “And I guess this one was the latter.”

“That box you have,” Kyungsoo suddenly said. “That’s how you managed to control the Darkness, isn’t it?”

Baekhyun nodded slowly, surprised Kyungsoo remembered it at all.

“When I came to, I wasn’t in Cocytus. I was back on the Moon— my ship was crashed, and I was stranded, but I was alive and seemingly well.” Baekhyun pointed to his grey hair. “The only proof that I had actually had this experience at all was that I suddenly had old man’s hair, and that wretched box.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol mumbled, like he was suddenly feeling guilty for ever finding the colour pretty.

“I was stuck there for a week, unable and unwilling to communicate with the Tower. I spent my time figuring out what I could do with the box,” The scavenger said. “If I opened it, I could— those Nightmares that tormented me? I could give them whatever shape I liked. They didn’t bother me anymore. And I practiced and practiced on the Hive around there, until I was able to create a Nightmare so powerful, so filled with Darkness, that it could actually— it could actually Take. I’ll admit it… It was a power trip.”

The revelation had rendered the Guardians speechless. Baekhyun supposed he understood— only the worst of the Darkness’ followers were able to do such a terrible thing as Take. He had never wondered how long his own version of Taking would last, if it was even exactly that. He killed all things that he had tested it on.

“Kris found me by chance. I now know Luhan sent him to me,” Baekhyun continued. “And back on Earth, I got to work. The Nine didn’t want a body of Darkness, though. It wanted one of Light.”

“That makes sense, too,” Jongdae agreed. Chanyeol stared at him in confusion.

“How does that make sense at all?” The Titan questioned. “I thought the Nine were— impervious to the Light and the Darkness. Removed.”

Jongdae hummed in disagreement. “Not quite so. I mean, in their current state, yes— they are. But if they were trying to gain a physical body or keep the life of their planets alive—” The Warlock shook his head. “It’s like this— if you poison half the water in this place, that water isn’t fit to drink. It’s poisoned. The Darkness is poison. It eventually destroys everything it touches. That’s— that’s its nature. A body of Darkness would just kill the Nine.”

“Suddenly, Mongryong’s existence is grimmer,” Kyungsoo commented. “Was he an experiment on Light?”

Baekhyun was stuck between accepting this and denying it.

“Mongryong— he wished for a body, too.” He decided finally. “It definitely resonated in me. Luhan thought the parallel was… Exquisite, that’s the word he used.”

“And since we’re back on him, explain,” Kyungsoo jumped on the opportunity. “How does Luhan fit into this… Agreement?”

Baekhyun debated on whether he should ignore what the Titan was asking of him and confess the last of his crimes. He licked his lips nervously. But this was going too well, and Baekhyun didn’t dare to destroy this place of no judgement he had managed to create. He was certain, anyway, that if the Guardians dared to think further, they would be able to connect the dots on their own.

“When Ghaul came,” Baekhyun started once more instead, “That’s when I ended up figuring out what Nine I was talking to. It was Mercury. And as you know, Mercury’s currently being eaten alive by a machine. So, understandably, the Nine began to lose their power and I began losing control. Luhan… He was like a broker, between the others and me. He found a way to recharge the box, restore it to its full power and then some. It would mean getting worse, because it involved _waking_ the Darkness. But it also involved me gaining some… Power.”

“And what powers do you have?”

“I regained my control on the Nightmares I have in my box,” Baekhyun began enlisting. “And they’re angrier. More vicious. I can apparently take whatever other people fear and create it as well— it happened with Mongryong. I can heal myself. And I can… I can do a little bit of mind-bending.”

Kyungsoo nodded in understanding. He encouraged Baekhyun to continue, but the scavenger’s eyes got immediately misty as he recalled how scared Kai had been the day before. How he would face him again, he was uncertain.

“Kai saw me heal— and he’s just clever,” Baekhyun lamented. “He realised that it wasn’t right. He was terrified of me. He… Said some things that really got to me. And I decided I would just… Shut him up. Y-You’re taking this really well and it’s freaking me out.”

Kyungsoo raised his chin, as if sizing Baekhyun up.

“How many times do I have to repeat it?” The brunet spoke, almost annoyed. “You didn’t harm him. We wouldn’t be having this conversation if you had. And you were there for him in Io. I value that.”

“We’re reasonable Guardians, Baekhyun.” Jongdae quipped, though it wasn’t particularly zesty or sassy, as the Warlock tended to be. “So there was no way you could’ve survived yesterday without the Darkness. Huh.”

Chanyeol looked a bit sick. He ran a hand through his blond hair, endearing frown in place. “I don’t like this.”

“I don’t like it either,” Baekhyun chimed in anxiously. “Every time I use those powers, it— it does get worse. As… You can clearly see.”

Chanyeol moved without qualms then towards Baekhyun, and he cupped Baekhyun’s face, hands right under Baekhyun’s ears. It was an amorous touch, and Baekhyun allowed it, but Chanyeol was busier examining him. “These… Finger marks on your neck. And the scratches. Did it do that to you?”

“After every time I use these… Powers in any way, I get a dream.” Baekhyun acknowledged, realising it for himself at the same time. “And in the dream, It just takes different shapes. It talks to me. And It does hurt me, and for some reason I carry whatever It does to real life.”

“Probably because they’re not actual dreams or nightmares, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol said with trepidation. “What does it want from you?”

And Baekhyun had to stop and think about it. Chanyeol hadn’t let him go, but it was different from how both the visions of Taeyeon and Kris and his mother had touched him. It felt actually comforting. Fuck, he was so whipped. It didn’t keep him from contemplating what the Titan had asked, and for once, he realised he had been so busy fighting it at all that he had never really reflected on what the Darkness wanted.

But now, he understood.

“Sehun,” Baekhyun almost whispered, and only Chanyeol could hear him. “It wants Sehun.”

Something within him— something was not him, purred with satisfaction.

“Why does it want Sehun?” He asked himself. Chanyeol pursed his lips down at Baekhyun.

“Anyone who knows Sehun’s name probably wants him, Baekhyun,” The Titan argued. “He’s the only person in this system who has the Light. He’s the only one capable of destroying Ghaul.”

“But Luhan said Ghaul dies by your hands,” Baekhyun said somewhat absently. Chanyeol snorted sardonically.

“Luhan clearly says a lot of things and just hopes one of them sticks,” He retorted. “Like Sungwoo coming back at all. That’s just not happening.”

Kyungsoo gasped so uncharacteristically, that it startled Baekhyun. “The beacons!”

“Did you just not hear what I just said?” Chanyeol asked, and now he was the one that seemed annoyed. “It’s not happening!”

“I’m not taking any chances, Park!” Kyungsoo was already making his way back to the platforms, pressing buttons on his gauntlet. “Commander Suho has clout. I’m not getting on his bad side so soon over something so small. What does it hurt to try?”

It was only Chanyeol, Jongdae, and Baekhyun then. Chanyeol stepped away from Baekhyun, much to his chagrin, while Jongdae stepped forward, looking determined.

“Okay, Baekhyun,” The Warlock spoke up. “This isn’t gonna be pleasant, but we have to do something— so at least these days are a little bearable for you and you don’t accidentally kill Sehun.”

Baekhyun hesitated. “What are you planning on doing?”

It was Jongdae who was cupping his face, then. Chanyeol didn’t seem surprised, as if they had discussed this without Baekhyun. They probably had. The Warlock’s touch wasn’t tender, and Baekhyun didn’t have to look up to see his expression.

“I’m giving you something to fight back with,” Jongdae said simply. “Now— let’s dream together.”

You had to admire someone somehow to love them, they said.

Baekhyun was sewing. He was sitting in a lonely chair in middle of the garden, and for once, it was blessedly silent— only the breeze could be heard. Sehun was standing in front of him, awkward and nervous.

Sehun. Huh.

“This is a step down in intensity, really,” Baekhyun almost mocked, though he didn’t understand why. And then he got an inkling of something, a whisper, and he let out a soft ‘oh’. He— he had been talking about Sehun, he supposed. He thought. He couldn’t really remember.

He remembered this pattern, though.

“Back in there,” Sehun began, pointing vaguely into some direction behind Baekhyun. Baekhyun looked back, but there was nothing but the expanse of grass and flowers. “You lied. About the Captain.”

Baekhyun arched an eyebrow at Sehun and looked back down at his poncho. That’s right. He had been sewing his poncho back up. The poncho in his lap didn’t just have a bullet hole, though— it was nearly destroyed.

“I did,” He still asserted, pulling on the thread once more. “It looked like someone needed to give you a little vote of confidence. Plus, all in all, it was teamwork, taking— uh, what was their name again? Tippis?” There was a pause, and he snapped his fingers in recollection. “Right, Tikkis. Tikkis, the Diminished Scrapper. Anyway, it was teamwork, taking them down.”

“You got the shot, though.” Sehun insisted. “All you needed was a single chance, and you got them. Right through their head, too.”

Baekhyun felt a ghostly sort of pleasure at the praise. He still frowned at Sehun. “I mean— I’m sorry. Where are you going with this, Sehun?”

The Hunter didn’t answer right away. He licked his lips, first, and Baekhyun smiled fondly at the nervous habit.

“Were you lying about the rest of it, though?” Sehun questioned then, and Baekhyun had to wonder— had he sounded so vulnerable the first time around? Or was the Darkness particularly crafty? Was his memory particularly crafty? Projecting whatever he wanted from Sehun in this Sehun. “When you said you thought the Traveller chose me. And that you’d follow me anywhere.”

Baekhyun shook his head. “I didn’t lie about that, no.”

“Then follow me to Titan,” Sehun asked. Baekhyun remembered he had snorted in disbelief. Now, he caught himself smiling more at the young Hunter, who seemed— he looked so innocent just standing there. So sincere.

“The common denominator, you called me,” Baekhyun started. “You thought it meant I’m still the common denominator. How… How haven’t you figured it out yet, Sehunnie?”

Sehun licked his lips again. It looked so much like the real deal, as if this time, the dream had really tried to outdo itself. Or maybe it was because there weren’t too many memories with Sehun to begin with. There was only so much his mind could conjure up wrongly.

“Maybe I have figured it out, and I just haven’t told you, Baekhyunnie,” Sehun suggested, as mischievous and serious at the same time as the Hunter often was. “Just like Lay— waiting for the right time to strike you.”

“I’d really follow you anywhere,” Baekhyun confessed suddenly, eyes darting to a point behind Sehun. “I think— I think your Light is beautiful. And I really think you’ll save us. Save me.” His features hardened. “So I’m not gonna just deliver you to the Darkness. You’re too important.”

Sehun laughed. It was a hearty sound.

“I’m too important,” Sehun echoed, but it was almost sarcastic. “You’re right. I am. You may understand why I can’t just let it go.”

Sehun moved closer, and he grabbed Baekhyun’s hand. He pulled him up harshly, and Baekhyun allowed him.

This Sehun— he had never seen this expression. It wasn’t angry or dark, like he had expected it to be. It was blank, almost curious, as he regarded Baekhyun. His grip on Baekhyun’s wrist was rough and tight.

“When put a foot down in my Keep, you should’ve _known_ ,” Sehun pulled him closer, whispering almost sweetly. “You should’ve known you were my ticket in. No Nine, no friendship, no Warlock new or old, not _anything_ is going to make me leave. You _will_ slip up, no matter what you do.”

Undeterred, Baekhyun moved forward, until he could feel Sehun’s breathing over his face.

“This won’t end well for one of us,” He declared, just as saccharine sweet. “And darling, it won’t be me.”

Before the creature that claimed to be Sehun had the chance to retaliate, there was Arc energy surrounding it, taking over him, and it howled with a pain Baekhyun didn’t know it could feel. It let go of Baekhyun in a flash, but it was too late— Baekhyun couldn’t look away as Sehun twisted and contorted, and the Nightmare dissipated in a combination of blue electricity and moths.

Standing in Sehun’s place was Jongdae, sparks of Arc Light bursting from his body like he was lightning itself. But this one— Baekhyun was certain this Guardian was real. And Baekhyun had never been happier to see him.

“You’re really here,” The grey-haired scavenger said with relief. “We really dreamt together. And you have your Light back!”

Jongdae, who was looking around in wonder, turned his gaze to Baekhyun and smiled, the corners of his lips curling like a cat’s.

“It’s not back. This is all that remains, really,” The Warlock admitted, wiggling his fingers towards Baekhyun, shooting small sparks. “All that’s left. I can see now what you meant. This must be really hard on you.”

Baekhyun didn’t say anything. What could he say? He had brought this upon himself. But Jongdae’s kind smile didn’t let up, even as his electric hands grabbed onto Baekhyun’s face. It hurt at first, but then, it turned into a gentle buzzing, spreading from his cheeks to the rest of his body.

It was warmth. It was laughter. It was pride. It was hope. It was a path. It was affection. It was sacrifice. It was a revelation. It was protection. It was forgiveness. It was a bedtime story. It was life— and Jongdae was giving it to him, willingly and without much thought. Baekhyun could feel his wounds, both physical and emotional, start to heal— not completely, but just enough.

“Why are you giving this to me?” Baekhyun had to ask. Jongdae cocked his head to the side, as if the question made no sense. “You’re giving it all away. This is your Light.”

Jongdae nodded, raising his eyebrows at Baekhyun like he was a bit dumb. “I am. It is. But I offered.”

They didn’t talk for another moment, as Jongdae seemed to dim somewhat while Baekhyun felt himself begin to glow. Baekhyun attempted to pull away, as if to stop it, but Jongdae didn’t allow it.

“No, no, no,” The Warlock exclaimed. “Drink it all up. You’re gonna need it.”

“You haven’t answered,” Baekhyun insisted. “Why are you doing this for me?”

He felt absolutely rejuvenated. Jongdae looked tired, but he still continued transferring his power, and grinned at Baekhyun once more.

“Because I love your speeches,” The Guardian finally answered cheekily. “You’re like an unshakable, irrational ray of hope, even when you lie. I need those speeches to go on.”

Jongdae, at last, dropped his hands, and sighed. Baekhyun stared down at his own hands in wonder. The Warlock and the scavenger shared a warm grin. Jongdae had given him his last stand.

“Let’s wake up, now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiiiiiiii I'm back!! I know I kept you waiting for so long. My thesis had me super stressed, work has piled up, and i'm actually neglecting it in favour of doing this haha ^^'. I did pass my thesis btw ;) thank you for all the good luck wishes!!
> 
> I'm not entirely happy with the state of this chapter, and I'm sorry you had to wait for something so filler and fluff as this. It's not fluff nor filler in the grand scheme of things, and there were a ton of things I wanted to add, but they didn't necessarily go with what I wanted for this chapter (a little beacon of hope and also a little look in how Baekhyun's mind has betrayed him completely). Ultimately, I'm just gonna throw it out there and the next chapter will hopefully give out better quality!
> 
> any comments you have I will appreciate a lot!! It's good to be back!
> 
> PS. in this house we stan Chen and we love his marriage and his baby :)):):):):)))))


	11. p53

**xi. p53**

Trostland had been a mining town.

It was rich with history— founded way before the Traveller had made contact with humans, thriving throughout the Golden Age, paralysed in time ever since the Collapse. And Jongdae, from the moment he had woken up with Baekhyun, dazed and pale, had insisted in how he wanted a small tour of the burgh and how they should take the long way home.

“Are you crazy?” Chanyeol questioned in bewilderment, as he shoved the transmission beacon on the concrete so hard that the cement broke and the beacon fell to the side sadly. Chanyeol was undeterred. “We left our Ghosts at the Farm on purpose. You’re completely Lightless. There’s Fallen everywhere. There’s a Cabal base. We haven’t even had breakfast. This is _not_ the moment to do some sight-seeing.”

“Then call it a self-imposed intelligence mission,” Jongdae retorted with a frown. He seemed dimmer, as if the Light truly made Guardians shine from within, even when cut off from it— and now, without it, Jongdae couldn’t glow. “We’ll say we wanted to do some recon on the territory. That’s not a lie, anyway. We do need to do recon.”

“We need to do recon with a purpose, Jongdae. What if we encounter Cabal?” Kyungsoo was the one to ask seriously, as he tinkered with the beacon he snatched from Chanyeol’s hands. He had his own go at the concrete, applying less force, and this time, the device stuck. “We’re not prepared for something like that.”

“It _is_ a terrible idea, Jongdae,” Baekhyun found himself interjecting, gently and with an apologetic smile. After waking up, he felt the most clear-headed and revitalised he had in months— and the most encompassing and transparent emotion within Baekhyun at that moment was a sense of the enormous sacrifice that the Warlock had made for him. “I don’t want you to die so soon. I think it might be my turn to protect you, now.”

Indeed, it was almost as if Baekhyun had exchanged his muddled mind with the clarity of Jongdae’s own. He wasn’t sure how this worked, and Jongdae looked still lost and conflicted, but he relented easily.

“Okay,” The brunet agreed. “But at least, promise me you’ll take me to the church one of these days.”

It was a strange request. What interest could Jongdae have in Trostland was beyond any of them— that much was obvious when Baekhyun exchanged worried glances with Chanyeol and Kyungsoo. But Baekhyun still nodded, because he was no one to deny Jongdae anything now. “Okay. I promise.”

Jongdae nodded. He then ducked his head, whining like a small child, exhausted.

“This really sucks,” The Warlock complained with a little more mirth, only barely. “I feel horrible. No wonder you’re so fucked up, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun laughed warmly. Truly, he was infinitely grateful for Jongdae and for what he had done— and out of the goodness of his heart. It was the ultimate sacrifice— now, Jongdae was as mortal and without magic as Baekhyun himself had always been. It was even more imperative to regain the power of the Traveller, or Jongdae’s next death would tragically be his last, even if they won the Light back only a breath later.

It had been Chanyeol, Jongdae somehow transmitted or explained in the shared dream Baekhyun could only half-remember, who had offered to do this for Baekhyun. The Titan had figured out on his own that, if Baekhyun had a way to have the Light in his heart, the scavenger would be able to make it through what Chanyeol perceived as the last stretch of their fight. He didn’t trust Luhan’s judgement, not even one bit, even if Baekhyun seemed to. With this idea in mind, Chanyeol had approached Kyungsoo and Jongdae, not asking for their understanding— only their help on making it happen.

Jongdae had been quick to shoot it all down. Chanyeol was a brute force, the fury of undying suns, all roaring flames and molten hammers when in possession of his Light— a sight to behold. However, as it was, Chanyeol had no idea of _how_ he could become all of that. Kyungsoo wasn’t any better— all fists of havoc, and yet, no comprehension for the stormy energy that coursed through him. They were classic, stereotypical Titans. They couldn’t help Baekhyun.

Jongdae was a different story. Studying the Light was his calling. He spent his days with Xiumin experimenting with it and what it could do. He knew how to enter Baekhyun’s dreams with him, in spite of whatever Darkness flooded them, and he knew how to transfer his powers. He was the logical choice, and he had volunteered himself freely once he had gotten it through Chanyeol’s thick skull that it couldn’t be him.

Pepper— well. She wasn’t happy. But she had always respected what her Guardian thought was right. She loved him above all else.

Kyungsoo kicked the beacon with a grunt when it didn’t immediately work, interrupting Baekhyun’s thoughts. It came to life with a crackle, startling all of them, and Suho’s voice echoed in the Reservoir –and in every radio channel tuned in— with a familiarity Baekhyun hadn’t associated with the Commander.

“ _Sungwoo Shin,_ ” Suho began in the transmission, sounding both warm and resigned at the same time. “ _This is your newly appointed Commander, Suho. I wish there were better circumstances for my designation, but it is what it is, right?_ ”

There was a pause. Kyungsoo and Chanyeol both floundered over the beacon, attempting to find a way to keep it from transmitting any longer. However, Suho was speaking once more before either Titan could stop him.

“ _Anyway, the consensus around here among Guardians and civilians alike is that you’ve left and have no intention of coming back_ ,” The man relayed. “ _As expected from one of Dead Orbit’s most secret admirers, right? And yet… And yet some of us believe you’re here, in the EDZ, or somewhere near, trying to find your way to us. Actually, not some of us— only Luhan believes that. You heard that right. Luhan is here. Maybe I should’ve opened with that. Whatever. Luhan is here, Sungwoo— and I’m listening to his advice. The world as we know is truly ending._ ”

“I share that sentiment,” Chanyeol muttered. Kyungsoo kicked the beacon again, as if that would finally shut it up. Baekhyun and Jongdae could only look on in bemusement as it didn’t.

“ _I know better than questioning him, of course,_ ” Suho continued with a heavy sigh. “ _And so, Sungwoo Shin, I’m making a final effort to reach out to you. If you’re truly looking for us, I’ll tell you how to find us. We—_ ”

The four of them scrambled to silence the beacon then. They didn’t need to broadcast their location to all of the EDZ’s new inhabitants. It was Baekhyun who managed to turn it off, by pressing a small button on its side right before Suho’s recorded message revealed the Farm’s coordinates and doomed them all to hell. He looked up to the Titans in charge, who sported different degrees of shame on their faces.

“Did it not occur to you to encrypt this message _before_ activating it?” Baekhyun teased. Chanyeol flushed and Kyungsoo cleared his throat. Jongdae let out a weak cackle.

“Suho even gave us an encryption key, too,” The Warlock chirped playfully. “What’s the excuse?”

“We were stuck on watching you,” Kyungsoo admitted at last, the apple of his cheeks just a tiny bit pink, as he gingerly retrieved the encryption key from a hidden pocket. He handed it to Chanyeol. “And technology isn’t our forte. Ink usually does this stuff for me.”

“And I still think this is useless.” Chanyeol added, as he knelt down and pressed the device on the beacon’s head, fitting perfectly. “Sungwoo has to be gone from the system by now. Did Suho really say he was a Dead Orbit follower?”

“Not on record,” Baekhyun clarified. “You know the Vanguard can’t have official ties with any of the factions.”

Chanyeol nodded and hummed, satisfied with the explanation. “He always struck me more as a Future War Cult sort of guy. If he’s Dead Orbit, he’s _definitely_ gone.”

Baekhyun silently agreed. The Last City was ruled by the Consensus— the Vanguard in alliance with three Guardian factions, each one with their own beliefs and philosophies, and all of them lead by the Speaker. Dead Orbit, one of the approved factions, believed wholeheartedly that Humanity’s survival was not on Earth and with the Traveller, but in the stars. Baekhyun had always been drawn to their ideals, even if he wasn’t a Guardian. It had resulted on him favouring deals with Dead Orbit sympathisers— and it had been a relatively good relationship.

The Vanguard was supposed to keep itself away from these factions. For as long as he had remained in his post, Sungwoo had never pronounced himself in public about any of them. He had chosen instead to be vocal about his dislike for being part of the Vanguard, as it was common with Hunters –having a problem with authority, even when you were the authority, seemed to be a pre-requisite to even be a Hunter— and everyone had supposed Sungwoo would leave the position as soon as he was allowed to. At least, the terms of his Dare hadn’t been terribly gruesome.

Even if the odds were against it, Baekhyun still hoped Luhan was onto something and Sungwoo was only so far away. He still had quite a lot to answer for.

The four of them only spoke briefly on their way back to the Farm, and Jongdae still didn’t allow Baekhyun to drive, even if it was evident how tired he was. The Warlock, in lieu of the scavenger flying them home, decided to ask Baekhyun about Trostland, and he delivered to the best of his abilities.

“They mined salt,” The grey-haired man told Jongdae, watching the town through the windshield of the Arrowhawk. He could make out large purple banners over some of the torn down buildings— the House of Dusk. The only remaining House of the Fallen. “They were on the frontier of a place called Germany and a place called… Swiss… Switz… Switzland? Something like that. Really unassuming city. Those who survived the Collapse tried to quarantine the zone where the Shard fell, but eventually everyone left. What’s with the questions?”

“Why do you think the Traveller chose this place to fall?” Jongdae asked sincerely. Baekhyun frowned at him.

“I don’t know. It was probably random.” Jongdae shook his head but didn’t say anything else.

Baekhyun wondered if he had been this confusing throughout the time he had spent with the Guardians. It was as if he was looking at things through a different lens— one he didn’t remember he had been able to see through.

He hoped the effect of Jongdae’s Light would last for long enough, however long that would be. He also hoped Jongdae would be able to sleep the weirdness off, unlike himself, who only got weirder the more he slept.

Back in the Farm, Commander Suho and Lay were chatting idly by the landing pad. The Titan waved at them as they got off the Arrowhawk with his megawatt smile in place, Byul right next to his head. Lay was alone and offered them only a half-smile that didn’t falter, even when his eyes landed on Baekhyun. The scavenger averted his own eyes.

“Guardians!” Suho greeted happily, though there was a stern edge to his voice. “We heard the beacon be set up very loudly. Thank the Traveller you stopped it just in time, huh?”

Even Baekhyun blushed. He laughed awkwardly, as Chanyeol squared his shoulders and tried his best to look very official and serious, even when his face was red.

“We had a small mishap, but it seems like no one of interest heard it,” The Titan reassured his senior. He paused, and then asked unsurely: “Did they?”

Suho chuckled and waved it off, but he had the face of a long-suffering father.

“There was a bit of Fallen chatter,” Lay conceded with a smirk. “But mostly just confusion. Whoever’s around still hasn’t picked up our language. They’ve only just arrived. If Cabal noticed, they didn’t mention it on any of their very open channels.”

“All in all, it was a success, despite your mishap.” Suho concluded. “Though, we did wonder…”

“That was a _mishap_ that could’ve been avoided with a Ghost with you,” Byul commented seriously, somewhat condescendingly. “Most Guardians don’t know their way around some technology.”

Kyungsoo turned up his nose, glaring at the Ghost. “I resent that implication.”

“It’s not implied if I say it outright.” Byul deadpanned.

“We did notice you chose not to take your Ghosts with you,” Lay remarked, airy and innocent, almost confused, even if Baekhyun was well aware that it was anything but a hapless observation. Lay didn’t do hapless observations. “Not even the little not-Ghost, Baekhyunnie. We ran into them having a little breakfast party in the barn.”

It suddenly occurred to Baekhyun just how much the Ghosts would have done to stop Jongdae, Chanyeol, and Kyungsoo from doing what they wanted. Mongryong could be programmed for secrecy, and he was— but he was an AI software in the body of a Ghost. Toben and Pepper disliked Baekhyun at best, while Ink remained forever mysterious and indifferent. Pepper, particularly, was probably gutted at what Jongdae had done.

Baekhyun’s stomach sank as he realised with his newfound lucidity the extent to which the loyalty of these Guardians reached for him, and he had the urge to reciprocate.

“It was my idea,” He blurted out before the others could speak. “We were taking a shortcut and those Ghosts— we don’t really get along much. Since they can’t even do much right now, why risk them at all?”

It was risky to suggest that he had been the one to tell the Guardians to go without Ghosts in front of Lay. With how Lay narrowed his eyes, even if his expression didn’t betray anything, he knew the suspicion was clear. Baekhyun looked straight at the spy bravely, willing him to read his thoughts— _they were with me, without any way of protecting themselves, and I didn’t harm them. Trust me, old friend._

“They could still heal you, couldn’t they?” Lay countered, matching Baekhyun’s stare. _That’s not enough,_ he seemed to be saying.

“Hardly,” Baekhyun replied dismissively. “What happened with Monggu yesterday was only a fluke— with the Shard so close to him. Really, Commander, Lay— it wasn’t worth the trouble.”

Suho nodded, seemingly satisfied. Lay didn’t speak up again, but Baekhyun could tell the spy was unconvinced.

“Very well,” The Commander acquiesced. “I trust your judgement, Baekhyun. You Byun brothers know this place better than any of us. That’s why I asked the Guardians to take you along on this small patrol, anyway.”

There was a brief silence. Then, Suho spoke again: “After breakfast, the Vanguard has called for all Guardians in this Farm to reconvene. I’d like all of you to be present. There’s much to prepare for, Sungwoo’s presence notwithstanding.”

It was all coming to an end soon.

Once Suho stalked off with Lay throwing one last glance over his shoulder, the Guardians and Baekhyun exhaled with relief.

“There’s always something unspoken with those two.” Jongdae observed. Then, he yawned loudly. “I need the longest nap of the century.”

Kyungsoo nodded. “I’ll take you to your bed. I want to see if Jongin’s awake, anyway.”

With a few nods, both Warlock and Titan walked away towards Baekbeom’s house, and they left Chanyeol and Baekhyun standing on their own. Baekhyun looked up to Chanyeol after watching them for a moment and found himself smiling when he caught Chanyeol had already been staring.

“How do you feel?” The blond asked. Baekhyun’s smile grew.

“Actually, I feel amazing,” Baekhyun admitted sincerely. He stepped a little bit closer to Chanyeol. “I’m alone in my head. That— it had been a while. Jongdae told me that you were the man with a plan.”

“Ah,” Chanyeol uttered, ducking his head and nodding, smiling somewhat shyly. “Yeah. Will you believe me the next time I say I care about you?”

“I’ve always believed you, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun retorted, leaning down just a bit so he could catch Chanyeol’s eyes even with them staring at the ground. “I just didn’t think it was a very good idea. What Jongdae did was very reckless. You know this could be it for him, right?”

“It could be it for any of us, for anyone in the Farm. Even for you.” Chanyeol responded easily, finally meeting Baekhyun’s eyes. He looked determined and more certain than he had before. “But it’s only for a little bit. We’ll take back the City, save the Traveller, and Jongdae will get back what’s his.”

Chanyeol’s security was contagious, even if it only made appearances during the daytime. Baekhyun contemplated for a moment of how Chanyeol only let his guard down when it was only the two of them. He grabbed Chanyeol’s hand on a whim, squeezing it, as warmth and something he couldn’t decipher quite yet spread through his chest.

“We will,” Baekhyun confirmed, grinning. “And I suppose I also owe you a thank you.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Baekhyunnie,” Chanyeol assured the scavenger, though his tone was coy. He smirked almost immediately after, a dimple showing, and he hooded his eyes in a way Baekhyun supposed was meant to be sexy, even if it made Baekhyun snicker. “Except maybe a kiss or two.”

“I already told you,” The grey-haired man reminded Chanyeol more gently than he intended at first. “Once this whole thing is over, everything is out, and you decide you still want me— then you can woo me to your heart’s content.”

“I remember,” Chanyeol stated confidently, squeezing Baekhyun’s hand back. “I just think like you’re already halfway to being wooed already, though.”

Baekhyun smirked, raising an eyebrow. Only halfway? That was an understatement. He didn’t think anyone had made him feel quite as giddy as Chanyeol did— not Taeyeon, nor Kris, nor anybody in between. He kept this information to himself, though. He still needed to fix everything he had broken.

But flirting came naturally to him, and something about Chanyeol today was particularly beautiful. Baekhyun reckoned it was because he could truly look at him now, and he stepped even closer to be able to appreciate Chanyeol’s face better. “That’s pretty cocky, isn’t it, Park?”

But there unfortunately was no chance to make another move. Suho was suddenly rushing back to them with Lay, towards the landing pad, urgency written all over their faces. Kris and Xiumin also barged out of Baekbeom’s house by the way of his kitchen, followed by an eerily calm yet smug Luhan. Baekhyun and Chanyeol moved away from each other quickly.

“What’s happening, sir?” Chanyeol questioned Suho. The elder Titan shook his head and pointed towards the sky in lieu of an answer. No more questions were needed, however, for they looked up just in time to see an unmistakeable, sleek and dark Alta Clara break through the cloaking of the Farm. Baekhyun frowned deeply, as Chanyeol asked again: “Who’s that?”

“Dead Orbit minion,” Baekhyun mumbled, low enough that only Chanyeol would hear him. He widened his eyes meaningfully, hoping Chanyeol caught his drift. With how Chanyeol’s own eyes widened in response, the scavenger knew he understood— this was the man of Baekhyun’s stories.

“That’s Lucas Wong’s ship,” Lay answered Chanyeol’s question aloud. “He brought us Sungwoo Shin and some—”

Lay’s words died in his tongue, as almost a dozen crafts more crossed the cloaking after the Alta Clara. _Reinforcements_ , Baekhyun whispered to himself.

Trostland had become so big once, it had had a mall. It was floating in the sky these days, due to the Shard of the Traveller’s power and influence. As it turned out, Sungwoo Shin had been resurrected there, a very long time ago, and had died multiple times trying to get down with his Ghost.

“I was astonished by the beauty of the Shard,” The former Hunter Vanguard spoke to the crowd that had formed around him by the fountain. He was, after all, the most beloved member of the preceding Vanguard trio— a fun, laidback presence to counter with Sooman-52’s stern and larger-than-life and Jongok’s calculating and cold own. “I promised myself I would one day return to see it again— but I never got around to it. I supposed this was the best time to come back.”

Sungwoo had long black hair, tied in a messy ponytail, and an equally messy beard. He indeed looked like he had been surviving in the woods on his own. By his side, the usually dashing Lucas Wong didn’t fare much better, dark bags under his eyes and his brown hair matted. Both of their armours, however, were impeccable.

“You’re telling me you’ve been here the whole time?” Kris asked, sounding very frustrated with them. “Right here, in the EDZ?”

Sungwoo looked almost cautious, but eventually shook his head. “At the beginning, yes. But Lucas had been searching for me, and we rallied as much people as we could find before leaving for Titan like Suho asked.” He nodded towards the new Commander then. “You had already left by the time we got there. We were unsure on where to go, until we received news of the resistance in the Byun Farm through the grapevine.”

“Un-fucking-believable,” Kris muttered.

Sungwoo laughed, if a bit awkwardly. “Yes. Un-fucking-believable. It seems like we never managed to catch each other.”

“It no longer matters, I suppose,” Xiumin was the one to speak then, quiet and soothing. Making it back to Earth had done wonders to his nerves. “You’re here just on time. And you’ve brought quite the small army with you.”

Xiumin wasn’t exaggerating, either. Baekbeom had looked like he would pop a vessel when he saw all the ships suddenly making it into the small village all at once, overwhelmed at the idea of having to house so many people. Yeongja had had to step in for the older Byun, hardly containing her laughter and with a toddler resting on her hip, to direct the dozens of Guardians and soldiers of all sorts.

“It’s not like they’re staying, honey,” Yeongja had placated her husband as best as she could. She had lowered her voice then, so only Baekhyun and Baekbeom could hear her. “Besides, aren’t they launching their attack tomorrow? These tanks will come in handy.”

Because of course Sungwoo had tanks with him. His influence was great, and there were a lot of people ready to pull through for him, across the whole of the Last City. Even if he had to be convinced by Lucas Wong of all people to get a move on.

Thinking of Lucas made Baekhyun immediately eye the tall Guardian, albeit warily.

Lucas looked tired and intense— it was a far cry from the relaxed, cocky, and teasing attitude the man had always been known for in the City. He was unlike most Titans, in that sense, and it had been what had made him become so close with Sungwoo despite not being under his direct command, up to the point of becoming the man’s errand boy for the most disagreeable businesses the Hunter could not tackle himself. In fact, Lucas had always seemed to enjoy those secret dealings the most. Of course Lucas would search for Sungwoo first.

As if sensing Baekhyun was staring –or perhaps also staring— Lucas nodded at the scavenger. Baekhyun nodded back.

“I don’t know if there’s enough breakfast for all of you, honestly,” Yeongja interrupted when there was a lull in the conversation among the Guardians, voice piping through the crowd. “But I’m sure if every house chips in, we can make a big breakfast potluck. You guys will need it!”

“Yes!” Hodong’s loud voice agreed from somewhere. “Our Guardians need our support!”

“I don’t think there’s enough in my pantry for much, but I’ll have a look.” RM promised loudly.

“Everyone who needs to eat, please, eat,” Suho raised his voice over everyone else’s as best as he could. “Then, every Guardian and very able-bodied soldier who wants to help take our City back from the Cabal, meet with us in the barn at noon. There’s plenty of time to recover.”

With that, the swarm of people cheered, before dissolving into chatter and talking, some moving away from the fountain, others gathering closer to Sungwoo. Baekhyun found his arm being grabbed by Chanyeol, who had been standing by him almost the whole time and being gently dragged away towards the hangar. The scavenger swore he could feel Lucas’s eyes on him, but he didn’t look back.

“I can’t believe Luhan was right,” Was the first thing that came out of Chanyeol’s mouth as soon as they got some privacy. “And I can’t believe— I can’t believe Lucas Wong is your Dead Orbit minion. He has to pay for what he’s done.”

“Haven’t we all paid for it?” Baekhyun asked genuinely. He shook his head. “No, listen. Lucas is just the messenger. Another poor soul caught in the middle. His boss, though—”

“—Sung— Sungwoo?!” Chanyeol’s voice first boomed, but he caught himself as Baekhyun shushed him and began harshly whispering. Baekhyun nodded for all confirmation slowly. Chanyeol ran a desperate hand through his hair. “Fuck.”

“There’s no point on dwelling on this,” Baekhyun said. “What’s done is done. Revenge is useless— I’ve learnt that the hard way. I told you it isn’t my style. Let’s just be happy he’s here, so our Vanguard can have some support and tanks.”

Chanyeol sighed shallowly. He shook his head, messing up his own hair further, but he finally bobbed his head in agreement. “Okay. Yeah. Let’s be happy. Focus on the tanks.”

They both stood there, just looking at each other for some moments, as if there were a hundred things they wanted to say to each other but couldn’t. Baekhyun indeed felt that way— he no longer wanted secrets between Chanyeol and he. He was about to speak, the courage finally gathered, but he was interrupted by a harsh hand over his shoulder— and a matching one over Chanyeol’s.

“Baekhyun Byun and Chanyeol Park,” Luhan said for all greeting once he had both their attentions. His face was as gentle and deceptive as ever. Xiaotong twirled behind the Warlock, coquettish. “I see you’ve had an eventful morning.”

“Luhan,” Chanyeol said, almost spitefully. “Came here to gloat?”

“Please don’t ask him to gloat, because he definitely _will,_ and you’ll never hear the end of it.” Xiaotong teased mischievously. “What’s a couple thousand predictions gone right, anyway?”

“Xiaotong,” Luhan chimed in. “ _You’re_ gloating. I’m here to have a civilised conversation, not to antagonise myself anymore.”

“Well, make it snappy, then,” Chanyeol pressed, sounding quite defensive, and— oh. Was he being— was this protective? Jealous? Baekhyun lit up at the realisation, even as he rolled his eyes over how irrational the Titan was being. “Say what you want to say.”

Luhan was unfazed. He gave the Guardian a patient, hooded look, before turning his eyes towards Baekhyun. “You have the Light of another man shining through you.”

Baekhyun smirked. “You don’t really beat around the bush, do you?”

“There’s no reason nor time to play coy with you,” Luhan retorted. “What has happened to you this morning is an act of true affection.”

“As opposed to your acts of true manipulation?” Chanyeol snarked, and Baekhyun punched him on the ribs. The blond man reacted with a shout of pain and bending over, as if Baekhyun had stabbed him, despite his thick armour hurting Baekhyun’s knuckles more than Baekhyun had been able to hurt.

Luhan, to his credit, only laughed freely— a little bit sadly, the scavenger would have dared to say. He looked juvenile when he laughed, free of the weight of centuries of life in isolation.

Luhan had to have died quite young, just like the rest of the Guardians Baekhyun had so painstakingly collected. Secretly, he wondered what had happened to the Warlock.

“What that Warlock did for you— Chen— I hope you realise what he has given up for you.”

“I trust that he knows what he’s doing,” Baekhyun defended. “I decided to trust him. Just like I decided to trust you. Though trusting him has given me better results, to be totally candid with you, Luhan.”

“The Darkness is unrelenting, Baekhyun,” Luhan warned. “In a sea of Darkness, a drop of Light won’t be able to do much. You know this.”

Baekhyun had… Contemplated this. After all, it hadn’t been more than a couple of times of Sehun healing him before his own body had seemingly turned against the Light. But this— this was more powerful, right? A vaccination, maybe?

“At least it’s better than drowning him.” Chanyeol interjected, incensed.

“Luhan gave Baekhyun the choice,” Xiaotong countered, irritated. “And he decided to go through with it. He knew what we were truly after.”

“Stop, Xiaotong,” Luhan asked his Ghost firmly. He still petted her, as if she was a cat, and she preened under his touch. The Warlock smiled. It was a wistful smile. “The Titan is right, after all.”

Chanyeol, surprised at the admission, grumbled a tight: “Of course I am.”

“It’s truly remarkable,” Luhan carried on, his eyes acquiring a faraway mist to them. “The foolish things we’d do for those we care about. What Chen has done. What I have done. The things we do to stop destiny, to change the course of things, only to have it end the same way.”

Baekhyun and Chanyeol shared a look of confusion.

“You’re a step closer every time I see you,” Luhan continued mysteriously. “And I’m not sure how I feel about you constantly blindsiding me, Baekhyun Byun. You never go for what I think you will, and yet you always end up on the same path.”

“Uhm,” Baekhyun uttered, feeling like he was the one blindsided. “What?”

Luhan shook his head, chuckling.

“Forgive me,” The Warlock pleaded genuinely. “I’m rambling. It’s been very difficult to think straight for a while, but I hadn’t realised how bad I was until I had to be around so many people again. I’m sure you understand.”

Baekhyun did. He couldn’t help but to feel for Luhan. His power was diminishing, most likely, with every second they spent with the Traveller caged and away. Not even the greatest Guardian ever was much without the Light, even if he had claimed to be.

“We just came here to keep you on your toes,” Luhan finally quipped, eyes twinkling with mirth and— something serious. Was that fear? “You’re not out of the woods, yet. You still need to be careful. The gardener can plant all the seeds it wants, but only the winnower decides which ones bloom.”

That… Made no sense. Baekhyun opened his mouth to speak and say— he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to tell Luhan. Before he could even think of something, though, Luhan did another unexpected thing. The Warlock hugged Baekhyun, tight, strongly patting his back with one of his hands as his other arm slipped through Baekhyun’s waist. It was strange, and forceful, and it was over even before Chanyeol got the chance to protest.

And with that, Luhan was gone once more, walking away as if nothing had happened. Xiaotong gave the befuddled scavenger and Titan a smug look, and if she had had a face, Baekhyun was certain she would have been simpering. She transmatted away, leaving the pair alone once more.

“What the fuck was up with _that_?” Chanyeol finally asked, after what felt like the longest minute. Baekhyun, who had been staring at Luhan’s back as he left, shrugged in bewilderment, as he shoved his hands into the deep pockets of his tattered poncho.

“I literally have no idea what that’s about,” The grey-haired man confessed. “Maybe… Maybe Luhan’s a little bit infected, too. Did I sound so cryptic all the time, too?”

“That makes sense,” Chanyeol conceded thoughtfully. “Sometimes you did, though, yeah. Very erratic. Still cute, somehow.”

“You’re so whipped for me,” Baekhyun mocked playfully. He toyed with the little dice Luhan had left in his pocket, twirling the trio of cubes gingerly between his fingers. “That’s gonna end badly for you, Chanyeol.”

As every single Guardian that had been staking it out in the Farm and had come with Sungwoo gathered in Baekbeom’s barn, looking unglamorous among the chickens and the horses, Baekhyun hadn’t been able to shake off a feeling of foreboding. What exactly he was expecting to happen— he wasn’t certain. He knew he didn’t like it, though.

From the spot he had taken with his brother on the broken-down roof, Baekhyun could see everyone clearly. In the front, the Vanguard stood proudly. The three –Kris, Suho, and Xiumin— looked like true leaders, magnificent and strong. Kyungsoo and Kai were near them, the smaller Titan sending a deathly glare to whoever tried to block his view in any way, while his taller lover sent charming smiles of apology to those who got scared off. On Kyungsoo’s other side was Jongdae, looking much better after his nap, even if the bags under his eyes were more apparent than they had been before they left at all. Tao was whispering animatedly with Lay, Sehun standing by them, with that impassive and thoughtful look on his handsome face that Baekhyun recognised the Traveller’s Chosen was nervous. Luhan had taken a somewhat secluded spot on a corner, face hidden with his crimson cloth, but it hadn’t stopped other Guardians from gossiping about his presence. Chanyeol was already watching Baekhyun when the scavenger spotted him and winked when their eyes met. Baekhyun winked back.

There were much more faces Baekhyun recognised. From the girls of the BLACKPINK fireteam, to J-Hope and Jimin, who had somehow dragged RM to be with them. Lord Donghae and Heechul, Cryptarch BoA, Nana, and even Gayeon were there. Sungwoo was close to the front as well, though he had taken a seat. Lucas had found a Warlock Baekhyun had often seen him around yet had never learnt his name. Tiffany and Taeyeon had mingled with a large group of female Guardians that had arrived, of which Baekhyun only recognised Sunny. There were many others, and Baekbeom was clearly overwhelmed.

“They better leave soon,” The elder Byun muttered a bit spitefully. “This isn’t what I signed up for.”

“You wanted to be a good Samaritan?” Baekhyun teased. “Here you go, Baekbeommie. House of Resistance, that’s what they’ll call you.”

No one seemed to mind the presence of the Byun brothers, or other civilians or non-Guardians. It was a welcome change from the secretive nature of Guardians and the Vanguard. In fact, even though Baekhyun and Baekbeom had taken their place far from the others, more than one Guardian had approached them to thank them or to congratulate them or just to say hello, like they were revered somehow.

Baekhyun supposed it was high time Baekbeom was acknowledged for his hospitality and firm leadership of the refuge the Farm had become. Baekhyun wasn’t so certain what he had going for him, but he couldn’t deny that he had been instrumental in at least letting people know they were here.

“Guardians,” Suho declared the assembly open at last. “For too long we have remained idle while the Cabal desecrate everything that means anything to us. It is time to strike back and show Dominus Ghaul and his Red Legion that Humanity will _not_ bend to his will so easily.”

There was some cheering, some muttering in agreement, some clapping. Baekhyun had to admit that Suho had charisma— he whispered as much to Baekbeom, who held back a chuckle.

“It has taken us some time to regroup and become the true Vanguard you deserve,” Suho continued, sounding regretful yet unyielding. “And for that, we apologise. It’s precious time we won’t get back. But we must ask you now to trust us and follow us into the uncertainty of what’s to the come— for the Last City, for the Traveller, and for our Light.”

“One of Ghaul’s most trusted lieutenants has decided the EDZ is his new playground.” Kris carried on for Suho, and his tone was one of mocking wonder. The crowd reacted with jeers and laughter. “He has forced us into hiding, when it should be us who push back. He has killed some of our best women, when it should be us finishing him. If Thumos the Unbroken wishes to toy with us, then we will _break_ him.”

The cheers were growing belligerent. It was a good sign— Guardians with no fighting spirit wouldn’t be any good, after all.

“This is our final stand,” Xiumin added seriously. “There will be three fronts in this mission. One will be in the Hades Firebase established here. The other will be in the Almighty. And the last and most important one shall be in the Last City’s Walls.”

“The first step shall be taking the Firebase by storm— we will not hold back.” Suho declared. “With the firepower Sungwoo Shin has brought, we will make sure a highly capable fireteam makes it inside and gets rid of Thumos for good. This fireteam will be comprised of Guardians such as Titan D.O, Titan Chanyeol Park, Warlock Chen—”

There were shouts of joy and encouragement. The Kingslayers would have another chance to shine.

“—Titan Kai, Warlock Tao, Hunter Lay—”

Suho had to strain to make himself heard over the cheers and claps of enthusiastic Guardians. All of these were well-known names, after all.

“—The best scavenger of the Last City, Baekhyun Byun, and our Traveller’s Chosen, Hunter Sehun Oh!”

Things only got louder then. Baekhyun snorted at first, not processing the words fully, and he leaned towards to Baekbeom to be able to say: “I love how he just slipped my name in there so it would just pass unnoticed.”

Baekbeom’s eye twitched. Baekhyun took a moment before his own eyes widened, stomach dropping. “Holy shit, he said my name.”

“I warned you.” His brother merely said, and nudged Baekhyun to look down again.

His name –and surprisingly, Sehun’s own name— hadn’t passed unnoticed. There was a small group protesting, up in the front of the crowd.

“What’s a civilian gonna do in such an important situation?” A man with wild white hair, a Hunter, shouted. He was stopped by a woman –another Hunter— with a snort.

“Baekhyun Byun isn’t just a civilian!” She countered. “He’s the Skulking Fox! What I’m worried about is about a man with no experience—”

“Why would the Traveller choose him?” Another Guardian questioned.

“I don’t want the Byun collector in this mission! I don’t trust him!”

“Nobody asked you.” Kyungsoo spoke up, his low voice still managing to draw all the attention to him with how dangerous he sounded. “Baekhyun Byun and Sehun Oh are coming with us or this mission isn’t happening.”

“Sehun is a formidable warrior!” Tao retorted passionately, as Sehun by his side remained inscrutable with his arms crossed. “He’s the one who will save us, in the end! The Light chose him and no one else!”

“Baekhyun Byun despises Guardians!” Someone else announced from the back. “Why would he help us?!”

“Oh, shut the fuck up, Johnny!” Baekhyun finally yelled, as loudly as he could. “Yes, I know that was you! You win one time at poker and think you know everything about me?!”

It got him some laughs. With the attention of the whole barn now on him, Baekhyun stood up on the roof, glaring down at the multitude fiercely. He hadn’t made it this far to hear this. Wasn’t it enough to be in his family’s home proof enough of his loyalty?

“I could stay here all day and listen to you bitch about me, and it’d be just another day in the life,” The scavenger began angrily. “But you’ve got some nerve. Remember whose house you’re taking solace in. _Our_ Vanguard has made a choice, and I will gladly and proudly help in whichever way I can.”

The Guardians, _his_ Guardians cheered him on, even Lay, as the Vanguard nodded in approval. Spurred on, Baekhyun continued firmly:

“Sehun Oh has more courage and ability in his left pinkie than some of you have in your whole bodies,” It garnered him laughter and whistles in agreement. “I was there when he regained his Light. The Shard of the Traveller _came back to life_ just to give him a chance. Your Speaker might be missing, but I think they’d agree when I tell you the Traveller’s message is pretty damn clear— you either be there or be square, Guardians.”

As the crowd collectively cackled and rallied, Baekhyun’s eyes were on Sehun. Sehun ducked his head at first, shy, but then he looked up to Baekhyun as well. His expression, with the tiniest of smiles, spoke volumes even when the Hunter didn’t attempt to say anything for himself. He wouldn’t have to. His actions would speak for him, after all. Baekhyun was certain of this as he flashed the black-haired man his biggest grin.

“If anyone has any further objections, you’re welcome to walk out,” Kris finally spoke up, both joking and deadly serious. “This will be our fireteam of victory. Now…” He sighed in annoyance, but it was clearly fond. “…Be there or be square, Guardians.”

“New Last City motto— I’m calling it.” Baekhyun quipped as a finish, and it caused more laughter and clapping, but it seemed as if the Guardians were appeased enough.

“Back to our grand plan, please,” Xiumin asserted, drawing the attention back to the Vanguard. “This will be Fireteam codename _Payback_.” There were more cheers of agreement at the vengeful name. “They will storm the Firebase, kill Thumos the Unbroken, and for the ultimate insult, Sehun Oh will use Thumos’s ship to get to the Almighty and shut it down before it can keep damaging our Sun.”

“The rest of us won’t remain idle,” Suho picked up where his Warlock counterpart left off. “The Vanguard will lead the way to the Last City, and we will sneak in and take the Cabal by surprise just as they did us.”

The Commander looked up to the Byuns with a small smirk.

“As we were reminded last night,” The Titan continued with amusement, “The City’s Walls have plenty of places to slip through unnoticed. We will use this to our advantage, until we manage to reach the Immortal or draw out Ghaul. Fireteam Payback is expected to join us as soon as they can. Together, we will kill the Dominus and free the Traveller from its cage, no matter what it takes.”

Trostland was never completely dark at night. The city could be spotted almost glinting in perpetual moonlight the Shard of the Traveller seemed to shine on it, even though a storm always surrounded the enormous structure. Some nights, the Light reflected in a way that even the Farm could be illuminated, as if stuck in an eternal twilight.

Tonight was one of those nights. A good omen of what was to come, Cryptarch BoA claimed with confidence.

It certainly felt that way. Sungwoo and his followers had truly delivered, with more weapons and ammo than Baekhyun thought they’d ever need— but he supposed that against the Cabal, it wouldn’t be enough.

“Have a look at everything we have,” Lucas had offered with a grin, looking a bit more put together than he had earlier in the day. Any animosity he had towards Baekhyun was well hidden. “You’re going to need it tomorrow.”

Baekhyun was ecstatic to discover that Lucas had a spare SUROS Regime to replace the one had lost the day before –it felt so long ago already—, and he gladly took it for himself. He urged the members of his fireteam to take new weapons for themselves as well. The scavenger recognised one of Ada-1’s combat bows among the stash the former Vanguard had left for them to search through, and he immediately handed it to Sehun.

“Le Monarque,” Baekhyun said to Sehun as the Hunter examined the weapon. “It has a pretty poem to go along with it, but I don’t know it— maybe Taeyeon remembers it. What I do know is that it automatically poisons arrows for you if you’re quick to the draw. And if you’re precise?” Baekhyun whistled. “It even poisons things around whatever you shoot. It’s crazy powerful.”

“That’s really impressive,” Sehun conceded. “Who even makes something like that?”

“An Exo with a lot of spare time,” Baekhyun replied vaguely. “She’d hate it if you took it. So please, do so.”

Kai had grabbed a pulse rifle with a huge grin on his face.

“I know this one!” The redheaded Titan claimed happily. “Monggu, do you remember this one? Lord Kyuhyun showed it to us. It’s called Outbreak Perfected. This is Bray Tech. It shoots out SIVA nanite swarms!”

He sounded so joyful about it. Monggu only laughed nervously by his side. “It’s pretty scary.”

Jongdae grabbed a bright, turquoise scout rifle with the symbol of a rabbit drawn onto its side. He laughed when he saw it. “I know this bunny! Oh, I need to have this so badly.”

“Are you good with scouting rifles?” Baekhyun asked.

“No,” Jongdae answered truthfully with a cackle. “But with this baby, I will _learn_.”

He urged Kyungsoo and Kai to go with him to try it out and practice. Kyungsoo, who had in his hands a submachine gun with three spikes to go along with the spikes of his shoulder pads, and just as brightly coloured in turquoise as Jongdae’s own, was happy to comply.

It was Chanyeol’s choice of weapon which surprised Baekhyun the most.

The Titan looked through many rifles, swords, and bows without finally taking any of them, always frowning thoughtfully down at the stash. His eyes kept going back, Baekhyun noticed, to an auto rifle that looked like it had been through a lot. It was actually four auto rifles assembled together, some wires even exposed, and the metal rusting in some parts. Sungwoo caught onto his interest, and intervened.

“That’s the Cerberus Plus One,” The Hunter chimed in with a kind smile. Chanyeol, who was a bit distrusting after what Baekhyun had told him, only frowned further. Sungwoo was undeterred. “I made it myself.”

“What’s its story?” Baekhyun humoured the man.

“Well, I had found this artefact— the Photonic Heart,” Sungwoo relayed to the pair. “And I had plans for it, you know? First, I was going to go straight to Kris Wu and gloat for a bit. And then, I was gonna go and try and see what I could get in the Bazaar for it, just because it would feel good to know. I didn’t want to actually sell it. But then I decided I’d take it to my little vacation in Venus and figure out what to do with it at my leisure. I didn’t expect to get sucker punched by an asteroid on my way over.”

Baekhyun and Chanyeol both laughed in spite of themselves, along with Lucas, who had heard the story before and still loved it like the first time. Sungwoo was fun, after all. More relaxed, Sungwoo smiled a bit more widely.

“I barely made it into this dusty spit in the Tangled Shore. Lost all my weapons in the crash, you know? The Heart only survived because I had put it inside my helmet and buckled it to my seat.” Sungwoo shifted in his spot, clapping once for effect. “My Ghost revives me, and so there I was— in a crater, surrounded by fragments of auto rifles and a Golden Age microstellar dynamo. I started with three rifles, but I’ve should’ve known it wouldn’t be enough to control with a power source this feisty. So I added a fourth head. Nothing shoots like this puppy.”

Cerberus+1. It was smart.

“You can have it, Chanyeol,” Sungwoo offered. “I don’t really give it the use I should these days. It’s time it changes owners.”

“Really?” Chanyeol gasped, all his wariness of Sungwoo seemingly gone in a flash. Truly, the Titan was too easy. “I mean—”

“—I insist!” Sungwoo interrupted him with a wave of his hand. “Please. I don’t think there’s a worthier owner of this.”

Chanyeol looked absolutely torn. Sungwoo and Lucas both laughed at his indecisiveness.

“You should take it for a test run, Chanyeol,” Lucas suggested easily. “You can still catch Chen and D.O if you hurry.”

It was almost hilarious how fast Chanyeol took off after the others, yelling a goodbye to Baekhyun almost as an afterthought. Baekhyun smiled in spite of himself at the retreating figure of the Titan, cradling the SUROS Regime to his chest. Left with Sungwoo and Lucas, though, his reverie was short lived.

“I thought you were dead,” He decided to start the unavoidable awkward conversation. Lucas’s smile had turned into a bitter smirk. “Never thought I’d run into you here.”

“Same goes to you, Baekhyunnie,” Lucas answered. “I help you get rid of Seungri and his crew, and what do I get in return? A Cabal invasion.”

“Hush, Lucas,” Sungwoo urged the Titan to lower his voice. “You can’t say things like that here.”

“Seungri is probably the last thing on the minds of everyone here,” Lucas challenged, his simper dropping completely from his face to be replaced with a snarl. “And the three of us are the only ones who know the truth.”

“Make it five, Wong,” Baekhyun quipped without much humour. “Luhan totally knows. He told me in very pretty words. And you know I tell my brother everything. I’m planning on telling Chanyeol Park, too.”

“Is your conscience feeling better, Byun?” Lucas asked. “Because mine really fucking isn’t.”

Baekhyun spotted Tao making his way towards them with a cheerful spring to his step. He was coming with Candy and Mongryong— sweet Mongryong, who wasn’t even bothering to hide in the overcrowded Farm at this point. He shot the Warlock a smile over Lucas’s shoulder, who looked back and immediately schooled his face into aloofness.

“I’ll fix it,” Baekhyun assured the two others. “We’ll solve this.”

That was that. Tao, his Ghost, and Baekhyun’s not-quite-Ghost came too close for them to be able to talk about this. Baekhyun noticed Mongryong’s eye was greener than the day before, and before he could say anything about it, Mongryong piped up joyfully.

“I know what you’re thinking, Captain!” The not-quite-AI chirped. “And I do not understand the changes I am suffering, either!”

“You’re going through puberty, Mongryong,” Baekhyun joked. “It’s totally normal.”

“Is this the Golden Age AI Xiumin said you uploaded into an old Ghost shell?” Sungwoo asked, looking marvelled by it rather than disgusted. Lucas, still mad at Baekhyun, tried not to show much interest, but it was clear that he was curious about it as well.

“Yes!” Mongryong replied. “I am Mongryong! Call me Mongryong!”

“Impressive,” Sungwoo whispered in awe.

“With Tao we were thinking,” Candy started to speak as Tao nodded in agreement of her words. “Maybe it’s because Mongryong’s assimilating whatever Light was left in the shell. He says his modules are out of control, but we can’t exactly check them.”

“I am never going back to Nessus, Captain! Do not make me go!”

“I’m sure there’s some sort of remote scan we can do later, Mongryong,” Baekhyun soothed the little drone. “I’m not going back to Nessus if I can help it, either.”

“Tao,” Lucas changed the subject, gesturing to the weapons all laid out for Guardians to check out with a grin. “I haven’t actually seen you with a gun around here. Do you want to pick one?”

The Warlock didn’t actually seem too keen on the idea, but he still moved towards the stash to check it out. He didn’t give none of the weapons much attention, but one particular hand cannon –a grey, red and white small thing, with a knife attached to the bottom of it, coated in dried blood— caught his attention. Tao grimaced as he grabbed it.

“Ah! Crimson!” Lucas called it. He winked at Tao. “According to official Vanguard policy, this weapon doesn’t exist. But it’s mine, so you can’t really have it.”

“A Titan with a hand cannon,” Tao remarked quietly, his face still twisted with disgust for the blood. “Must be one hell of a hand cannon.”

He offered it back to Lucas, who took it almost too quickly.

“I’m not really interested in weapons, to be honest with you,” Tao finally admitted. “I was actually more interested to know if you had any shaders?”

Sungwoo and Lucas shared a surprised look.

“Of course, Tao, we do have a lot of shaders,” Sungwoo said. “They tend to accumulate. Is it really the time for—?”

“—Of course it is!” Tao exclaimed, scandalised. He gestured to Baekhyun’s whole being, prompting the scavenger to look down at himself. His mismatched set of armour and his torn poncho weren’t really doing him any favours. “Have you seen the state of this man? I can’t take over any Firebase with Baekhyun looking like this right next to me! I have bared it long enough in Titan! Plus, his helmet is too clunky, and it matches Sehun’s! I’ll get confused when they fight together!”

Lucas laughed heartily at how Tao spoke of Baekhyun. The Titan nodded vigorously as he pointed at Baekhyun.

“It’s true, you do look like shit,” Lucas mocked, and Baekhyun pouted, for a lack of a better response.

“I know,” He acquiesced grumpily. “But it’s not like I could help it, could I? Also, Tao, I’m not getting rid of my poncho.”

Tao rolled his eyes as he pulled on Baekhyun’s arm to guide him towards the shaders loot boxes. “We’ll see about that. Now come on, Kyoong!”

It made Baekhyun chuckle to hear such a nickname coming from Tao. They were followed by Candy and Mongryong, though Lucas and Sungwoo stayed back. All the better, figured Baekhyun, as Tao looked through the tons of shaders in a concentration and intensity normally reserved for battle. It was cute.

“Okay, so your colour scheme might not be the best, but I have to admit it’s pretty iconic by now,” Tao was rambling as he went through different colours, staining his hands if only for a few moments with the virtual colours. “I went ahead and asked Yeongja and Baekbeom if you had a spare poncho, because that one’s unsalvageable by now, and they said you actually do! Why aren’t you wearing it already?”

“Because I didn’t want to completely mess up another one,” Baekhyun retorted, dragging down his poncho self-consciously. “And uhm, just don’t get anything too bright. You know I like to sneak—”

“—It beats me how do you sneak _anywhere_ with lilac and red covering half of you, but I know what I’m doing,” Tao stopped Baekhyun. “Fashion is my thing, so let me handle this. You need tons of work.”

“Do I really look that bad?”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Tao appeased him. “Your chest plates and legs and boots are okay. I’m glad Baekbeom could replace them yesterday so fast. They have that ‘I built this with my own hands’ vibe that is actually really cool, even if that green and brown camo doesn’t really suit you.”

“It’s so I blend in with the forest,” Baekhyun retorted, and the way Tao rolled his eyes in annoyance made him blush. “What’s wrong with that?”

“If you wear a bright poncho, then that camouflage is going to waste, so why not get rid of it completely?” Tao suggested and— well. He had a point. “Let’s talk the real problems, now. Those grips you’re wearing aren’t your fit. You’ve been pulling them up all day, which means they’re too big for you. When it comes to shooting, that’s gonna be a fatal issue.”

Baekhyun blinked. Tao was right. He looked down at Baekbeom’s old grips and realised that indeed they had been slipping. He pulled them back up on instinct and winced when Tao gave him a knowing look.

“Now, that helmet— Sehun said he got them from Xiaotong, and that she’d made them from Vex remains.” The Warlock continued, pulling certain shaders from the box. “He’s been complaining about his neck hurting, so I figured it’d be the same for you. You both like light armour, even if you don’t realise, and Vex metal? That’s not exactly light.”

Now that he thought of it— Baekhyun’s neck did have a crick to it.

“So we need a new poncho, which we have, a new helmet, and new grips to go along with your beautiful, gorgeous new shaders,” Tao carried on as he moved to a different chest filled to the brim with things— Baekhyun recognised gauntlets and gloves. “And you’ll be good to go!”

“Wow, Guardian Tao!” Mongryong gawked. “It is almost eighty-four-point-three percent concerning how much you’ve been observing my Captain!”

“We notice clothing a lot,” Candy remarked. “And armour is clothing. Tao is right when he says you must look good in the battlefield— because it also means you’re impenetrable.”

Tao, who had been done looking, came back to them with a new set on leathery grips, a clean, black helmet, and a bunch of shaders. He had an excited smile on his face.

“I’m between two colour schemes,” The black-haired Warlock told Baekhyun. He lifted one shader up— black intermixed with a dulled calypso, and a cosmic pink and white. The other wasn’t that different— black, white, pink, and an iridescent space. “Benevolence of the Nine or Lunar Gloom?”

“Out of principle, I’m gonna have to go with Lunar Gloom.” Baekhyun decided easily.

“I’m so glad!” Tao exclaimed happily, genuinely excited as he began infusing the helmet and the grips with the shaders expertly, like he himself was a designer. He then moved towards Baekhyun with other two shaders, one for his chest and one for his boots. “These ones have to be black. It’ll look way better that way.”

Baekhyun allowed Tao to move around him like a tailor as he made sure the shader was spread evenly. With the Warlock so close, he could tell the man had eyeliner on, and a subtle war paint like the one he had worn when they met. Tao caught him staring and smiled at Baekhyun. “You know, you have perfect eyes for eyeliner.”

Baekhyun snorted. “What? You’re not doing my make up too.”

“Why not?” Tao asked sincerely. “You’d go from puppy to a panther in seconds.” He paused and then shook his head. “Nah, you’re too cute for that.”

“He’d be like a lion cub, though!” Candy offered sweetly.

“Oooh!” Mongryong intoned. “Guardian Chanyeol’s attraction for the Captain will surely rise quite a bit if he resembles a cute animal! The little resistance they have between each other will disappear immediately!”

“Oh!” Candy exclaimed. “I hope they finally kiss!”

“That would be so awesome!” Tao agreed enthusiastically.

Baekhyun flushed. “Hey! Hey! What? No! I said I’m not doing anything with Chanyeol.”

“You guys sleep together in one room all to yourselves and don’t do anything?” Tao questioned with surprise. He frowned in confusion. “If Sehun and I had that kind of privacy—”

Baekhyun shouted in alarm. “I don’t wanna know what you’d do with Sehun!”

Tao rolled his eyes. “Don’t be a prude. We’re all grown men here. Besides, we don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Tonight’s the night to do things to enjoy ourselves, or we’ll do our heads in. Don’t even try to say there’s nothing between Chanyeol and you— anyone can see. Even Amber asked me about it.”

“Who’s Amber?”

“A friend. Does it even matter?!” Tao suddenly shouted. “Don’t change the subject! You shouldn’t hold back with Chanyeol, Baekhyun. I don’t know exactly what’s keeping you from getting closer, but there’s nothing wrong with wanting to. And there’s a real possibility you may not get to. I know I’m not wasting my chance with Sehun tonight.”

“I seriously, seriously, _seriously_ don’t need the image of Sehun and you in my head,” Baekhyun complained, but the red in his cheeks hadn’t receded. He had to admit that Tao had a point, after all. He sighed heavily. “What do you think, Mongryong?”

“My expertise in love endeavours has increased to zero-point-zero-eight percent after helping out Guardian Chen in Io deal with his love woes,” Mongryong informed the scavenger happily. “But my knowledge pales in comparison to Guardian Tao’s own! He has kissed other people, while I am incapable of doing that!”

Tao nodded gravely. “It’s true. I have kissed people.”

“I have kissed people too!” Baekhyun protested.

“Let me put eyeliner on you, and you’ll add another person to that list.” Tao smirked coyly, winking at Baekhyun. Baekhyun didn’t really answer, before Tao was moving away and grabbing Baekhyun’s new helmet. “By the way, this type of helmets have a really cool feature. You’re gonna love this.”

Tao searched for a button on the right side of the helmet. Suddenly, it came alive with a hologram of a rabbit and Baekhyun gasped in delight. The Warlock pressed again, and it turned to a heart. Then, an exclamation point. After that, it was a white ‘X’.

“That one!” Baekhyun stopped him. “I like that one! Can you leave it for me?”

“Let me do your eyeliner, and you got yourself a deal.” Tao insisted.

Tao had been onto something. It seemed like everyone that night wanted to enjoy themselves for one last time, before it all potentially went to hell— or to heaven, if they played their cards right. Most houses had been raided so their dining tables were outside, while Hodong and Yeongja and even Sungwoo had set up a grill to be able to cook something for everyone. Mongryong had offered to be put as some sort of radio and had been playing music to be broadcasted through the open garden and around the fountain. It was a relaxed event yet filled with an underlying anxiety and excitement.

“Y-You look really good,” Chanyeol stuttered when he spotted Baekhyun, who had indeed had his eyes lined with a liquid black substance by Tao, donned in his light casual clothes for the night and a brand new poncho. “Though I don’t think the Cabal would mind much.”

“I don’t think they’ll care, either,” Baekhyun agreed, and he cleared his throat before continuing. “I cared more about your opinion.”

Jongdae, who was sharing the table with them, stuffing his face with food, groaned loudly. “Are you serious?! Right in front of my dinner, you gotta be like that?!”

“Let them be,” Kai asked sweetly, probably because he himself was currently holding Kyungsoo’s hand and playing with the other Titan’s fingers for everyone to see. “We don’t know what’ll happen tomorrow. We should just have fun tonight.”

They had spent most of the afternoon planning after all. Guardian CL had died, but she had left behind precious intel on how the Firebase worked. It was a big ship, after all, just like Baekhyun thought it was. They had a strategy all set. It was only a matter of setting it down now.

“Ah, young love,” Suho remarked. The Commander had surprisingly chosen their table to sit, despite almost every other Guardian calling to him. In fact, the whole Vanguard and Luhan had sat with Baekhyun and his friends. Even Lay was here, deep in thought and silent. “I knew there was something brewing between you two when you came to Titan. I didn’t expect you to move so fast! A lot has happened in three days.”

“I suppose that’s why,” Xiumin mused quietly. “War changes things, including time.”

“It’ll all end soon, Minseok,” Luhan comforted the Warlock Vanguard, even if all he received was a glare and a pout. “I saw a football over on that field. There are even goals, did you see? How about we play a match for old times’ sake?”

Xiumin had actually lit up at that, even if he had tried to seem not too excited. He got up too quickly for that. Jongdae, alarmed, got up as well.

“I want to play football too!” The younger Warlock blurted out. Luhan watched him with amusement, and a small smirk, but nodded.

“Sure, you’re invited,” The brunet man answered. “We could do teams. Three and three?”

“I’m in,” Kris said as he got up. He patted Lay’s shoulder to get his attention and then pointed to Tao. “You two, you’re good at sports. You should come with me. Warlocks versus Hunters.”

“I’m a Warlock, too!” Tao whined.

“You’re an honorary Hunter, now,” Kris declared and snapped his fingers to get them moving. “Let’s go! Show them what we’re made of.”

With that, the six men were off to the football field. It was darker now, and Baekhyun wondered how they would play like this. He still watched fondly— Jongdae unsure of how to fit himself in the old friendship between Xiumin and Luhan, with both older Warlocks discussing tactics with him, while Kris stretched as he walked. Lay hadn’t been able to shake himself out of whatever funk he was in, but he gained intensity as they approached the football. Tao was skipping, practically, eager to have some exercise.

Suho laughed as he watched after them. “I’m glad to see Luhan getting along with everyone. It’s what worried me the most when I heard you were bringing him along.”

“You weren’t worried about him being a traitor to the Last City?” Sehun asked impulsively, and as an afterthought, tackled on a plain: “Sir.”

“Traitor is such a strong word,” Suho responded, and Baekhyun thought back on how Luhan had said the same thing to him. “Luhan’s only sin…”

The Titan trailed off. He was Vanguard Commander now, after all. He couldn’t be caught saying to others what he thought of what had gone down so many centuries ago. It was sad how Suho just smiled at them, that charming smile that distracted them easily.

“He was always quite withdrawn,” Suho said instead. “A genius, but even when he was Commander, he kept to himself. You could only hear from him from the books he published, unless you were Xiumin. He was his only friend. I know Luhan says he’s here because this mess has gotten in the way of his research, but I have a hunch he’s truly here to make sure Xiumin is okay.”

Baekhyun smiled at the sentiment. He knew this to be the truth. It sounded much less dangerous and utilitarian when it came out of Suho’s mouth, and much more like a man who cared too much about only one person.

“I want to watch them up close,” Sehun suddenly announced and got up. “Baekhyun. Come with me?”

“Sure.” There was little else Baekhyun would enjoy more than seeing Guardians embarrass themselves over football. The two of them went after the footballers, making good-natured bets about the two teams. It was only once they were by the side of the field, with Tao catching their eyes and waving and nearly receiving a ball to the face for his trouble, when Sehun dared to talk.

“You know,” The Hunter began, “I had a dream about you this morning.”

Baekhyun sighed. Nothing good could come out of this. The day had been pleasantly silent, but there was no way it would stay that way. “What about?”

Sehun shrugged. “I dreamt about that time I asked you to come with me to Titan. It wasn’t that long ago, but it feels like it was ages ago. I don’t know why I remembered it all of the sudden, but then today in the barn… You did the same thing. You stood up for me.”

“Well, somebody has to,” Baekhyun deflected and made Sehun snicker. “You’re really terrible at defending yourself, have you noticed? It’s always either Tao, me, or Vivi. Where’s Vivi anyway?”

“Dancing with Mongryong,” Sehun informed him. “Your little baby is so popular now. Apparently, this morning he invited every Ghost in Baekbeom’s house to have breakfast. I don’t know what Ghosts eat, but Vivi had the best time ever.”

“I’m glad,” Baekhyun said. “He deserves to be included.”

“Like you do.” Sehun chirped, and for once, Baekhyun decided not to fight it.

They were pleasantly silent after that. They cheered whenever it was appropriate— Xiumin and Luhan were surprisingly good at football, and Jongdae pulled his weight as the goalkeeper. Kris was astoundingly bad, even if he talked a big game, and stationary in his position at the goalpost. Tao was doing his best to keep his team going, but Lay’s head was clearly somewhere else.

Baekhyun was content like that, and he was startled when Chanyeol tapped on his shoulder. The Titan laughed at him, but also apologised.

“Why do you insist on scaring me?!” Baekhyun asked loudly. Chanyeol laughed more.

“I’m sorry! But I came here to invite you over to dance,” Chanyeol explained, and pointed back to the fountain, where indeed some Guardians and civilians –and some Ghosts— had taken upon themselves to dance to whatever jam Mongryong was putting on. He could actually spot Baekbeom and Yeongja, RM with an unknown girl, Kyungsoo and Kai, and even Taeyeon and Tiffany. “I figured you can’t waste that eyeliner look where no one can see it, right?”

Baekhyun made as if he would hit Chanyeol but didn’t in the end. The Titan still flinched dramatically, and even let out an exaggerated sigh of relief.

“Go ahead, Baekhyunnie,” Sehun pressed Baekhyun, nudging his shoulder with his own. “Go and have fun. I heard Chanyeol Park’s really bad at dancing.”

“Who even told you that?!” Chanyeol questioned, looking betrayed but still smiling. “What do you say, Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun pretended to think about it, when in reality his mind had been made when Chanyeol had first approached him.

“Since you asked so nicely,” He finally conceded, grabbing Chanyeol’s arm and holding onto it with naturality. He understood what Tao meant. There was no reason to hold back. “You have fun too, Sehunnie!”

Chanyeol lead him towards the makeshift dance floor, to take a spot right next to Kai and Kyungsoo, who cheered when they saw them. Kai was way too good to be dancing on a garden in the middle of nowhere in Europe, but Kyungsoo was shy and danced like he was an old man, so in a way, it balanced out.

Chanyeol wasn’t bad at dancing per se, even if he was a bit clumsy and awkward. He knew how to laugh at himself and did so often. Baekhyun had no intention other than letting out some steam, and he jumped and danced playfully, making faces and silly moves with every lyric he could understand, which weren’t many. The four of them were revelling happily, as friends were meant to.

But it was getting late. And tomorrow was a big day.

Slowly, the festivities began to die down, as most people began to grow tired or wary of sleeping in on such an important night. It was like that that Baekbeom disappeared with Yeongja, stopping Baekhyun’s energetic dancing to threaten him.

“Don’t you dare go tomorrow without saying goodbye,” The older Byun glared with one eye, as Yeongja pulled him towards their home. “I mean it, Baekhyun Byun!”

“Who do you think I am, Baekbeom Byun?!” Baekhyun yelled for all response. Of course he wouldn’t go without saying goodbye to his family.

The footballers then passed them by, with Xiumin being lifted by Luhan and Jongdae both, uncaring that he was the Warlock Vanguard and was supposed to be very serious. Victory was one hell of a drug. Kris, Tao, and Lay trailed not far behind, Tao looking quite dejected even as Sehun coddled him. Baekhyun and the Hunter shared a look of fondness over the sweet Warlock.

Then, they were abandoned by Kai and Kyungsoo.

“Jongin could dance forever if I don’t stop him,” Kyungsoo shared with Baekhyun as if it was a terrible matter of great concern that he wasn’t sure how to handle. “We need him in top shape. Like this is a Crucible tournament.”

“You were on the Taken War,” Baekhyun retorted. “Isn’t that a bigger deal than a Crucible tournament? Can’t you compare tomorrow to that?”

Kyungsoo gave him a look that left no room for debate.

After that, they had been quickly approached by Toben. The Ghost had made himself quite scarce the last couple of days, or at least, he had been always right out of Baekhyun’s sight. As the Ghost came to them warily, he understood that Chanyeol had asked him to.

“I’m crashing with Ink and Monggu tonight, then,” Toben said for all greeting, quite neutrally. “I’m sure we’ll have more visitors later. And don’t worry, Baekhyun, I’ll make sure that Mongryong doesn’t bother you.”

“Well, thank you, Toben,” Baekhyun replied, a bit confused at first until it dawned on him. He gasped at Chanyeol accusingly and hit the Titan’s chest with a slap once the Ghost had gone once more. “Oh my cotton socks! You asked him for that, didn’t you?!”

“It’s not that big of a deal!” Chanyeol countered, even if his ears were turning red quite quickly. “He understands that sometimes I need privacy. He needs space too! We can’t be together _all_ the time.”

“What would you need privacy for, huh, Chanyeol?” Baekhyun questioned, mischievous.

“To spend time with you,” Chanyeol answered, unabashed and with those widened eyes. “Is that so crazy?”

“It’s only a little bit crazy.” Baekhyun joked, but with how there was so many butterflies fluttering in his stomach, even as they still danced goofily to Mongryong’s animated music, he reckoned it was all types of crazy.

Mongryong had to do him dirty— or perhaps, he was doing his Captain a favour. Maybe it was neither, because Mongryong’s expertise on love only reached 0.08%, and maybe he was just changing the music to mellower tunes so everyone else in the Farm could get their rest. As it was, Baekhyun realised, they truly had been left alone completely by the fountain, the party around them completely abandoned.

The guitar and drums were quite familiar to Baekhyun, and Chanyeol also recognised the tune with a small gasp. Chanyeol and he both just looked at each other at first, awkward and unsure, smiles still quite giddy.

Chanyeol took the first step, putting a hand around Baekhyun’s waist, splaying his hand on the small of his back. Baekhyun decided to be bold for once, _to enjoy himself_ , and he wrapped his arms around the Titan’s neck. He didn’t dare to look up to him, though. The grey-haired man instead hid his face against Chanyeol’s shoulder, which was in the perfect height for him to just lean his head on it. It was just in time to hear the man croon, _tanto tiempo disfrutamos de este amor, nuestras almas se acercaron tanto así_.

“ _Que yo guardo tu sabor, pero tú llevas también, sabor a mí_.” Baekhyun sang quietly for only the two of them, as Chanyeol’s free arm came to rest on Baekhyun’s hair.

They had no idea how to slow dance. It resulted on them just swaying side to side, with Mongryong and the moon as their only visible witnesses. Chanyeol was warm, and tender, and adorable, as he tried to hum along to the lyrics along with Baekhyun. He did a poor job of it, but Baekhyun still chuckled, and he still locked away this memory in the deepest alcove of his heart, to be untouched by anyone but himself— where no Darkness nor Light could reach it.

It was three minutes and four seconds that passed by too quickly. Before Baekhyun knew it, Mongryong was shutting off the music before a completely different classical, and somewhat sinister song began.

“—Be smoother?!” Toben was scolding the not-quite-Ghost in a harsh whisper that in the silence echoed loudly. “Oh, now they’re both looking at us— way to go, Mongryong!”

“I’m sorry, Friendly Ghost Toben!” Mongryong was apologising in a way that seemed like he wasn’t sorry at all. “The presence of _Dies Irae_ in my queue without any prompting threw me off! I did not mean to interrupt such a romantic moment between the Captain and Guardian Chanyeol!”

Chanyeol began laughing, although trying to hold back as Baekhyun reluctantly looked up from the Titan’s shoulder.

“The moment is officially interrupted,” He let the Ghosts know with mirth. “But thanks for caring, Toben and Mongryong.”

“We should go to bed, anyway,” Chanyeol suggested, smoothly turning Baekhyun in his arms so the scavenger would be facing the house, while Chanyeol’s hand remained on the small of his back. “It’s pretty late.”

“Big day tomorrow!” Baekhyun parroted the words so many Guardians and non-Guardians had repeated in a saccharine voice. It made Chanyeol laugh.

They made their way into the house by the kitchen, and Baekhyun nearly tripped on the Queen. That old dog didn’t do much other than sleep all day, he complained to Chanyeol. That was truly the life. Maybe it wasn’t a dangerous War Beast after all.

It was only once they had reached Baekhyun’s bedroom in relative, comfortable silence that Chanyeol spoke up again. He sat on the foot of the bed, tugging off his boots, while Baekhyun turned on the nightstand lamp.

“You know, I’ve been trying to learn that song ever since you showed it to me,” He confessed to Baekhyun as he took off his second boot. “But I’ve only got down one phrase like, completely. It’s so random, too. Right in the middle.”

“Oh yeah?” Baekhyun pulled his poncho off his body. He had not worn his armour under it tonight, for he saw no point in it. He didn’t miss the way Chanyeol stared at him when his shirt rode up, and he didn’t really bother to fix it. He went closer to Chanyeol, standing in front of him. “Which part? Sing for me.”

Chanyeol was hesitant at first. He pulled Baekhyun’s shirt down gingerly, as if to protect Baekhyun’s modesty. Baekhyun used the opportunity to put his hand over Chanyeol’s, who responded by intertwining their fingers.

“ _No pretendo ser tu dueño,_ ” Chanyeol began quite softly, though the hoarse quality of his voice sent a shiver down Baekhyun’s spine. It felt too intimate, alone like this. “ _No soy nada, yo no tengo vanidad_.”

He stopped then. Chanyeol burst into a fit of giggles, and Baekhyun giggled with him.

“That’s it,” The blond admitted. “It’s all I’ve got!”

“I don’t want to possess you,” Baekhyun translated for him patiently. “I’m nothing, I don’t have any vanity.”

“Ah, well, it fits me, then,” Chanyeol remarked. “My feelings exactly.”

“I’m pretty sure you have a lot of vanity, though.” Baekhyun teased.

“True,” Chanyeol agreed easily. He lifted Baekhyun’s hand to his lips and kissed the mole right under Baekhyun’s nail. “And I don’t mean to possess you as long as I get to claim ownership over this single mole.”

“Only that mole?” Baekhyun asked with a pout. If Chanyeol’s eyes caught on his lips, and if his breath stopped for a second, Baekhyun pretended not to notice. “After you waxed poetry about all the others to everyone but me?”

There was a pause. The tension was palpable, but it was pleasant. Buzzing with electricity.

“Am I allowed to?” Chanyeol whispered timidly. It sounded almost out of place, coming from him, a man with a presence so big. It made Baekhyun smile.

“I’m extremely wooed right now, Chanyeollie,” Baekhyun revealed affectionately. “I’d even let you call me beautiful without laughing.”

“You’re beautiful.” Chanyeol immediately declared, almost reverently. Baekhyun, emboldened like never before, took a seat right on Chanyeol’s leg.

“You’re beautiful, too,” Baekhyun said with admiration, the kind that only came out when it was late at night like this. The light from the nightstand was warm and soft. The perfect kind combined with the moonlight that came from Baekhyun’s window. “And I’m not just saying that. You’re pretty fucking hard to resist. And I really don’t want to hurt you. I—”

Chanyeol stunned him into silence by taking his free hand to Baekhyun’s nape. It was a move to be able to manipulate his head, as he angled Baekhyun to show him his temple. Then, slowly, as if he didn’t want to scare Baekhyun –nor himself— Chanyeol kissed the mole there almost fleetingly.

They looked at each other afterwards, words caught in their throats. Chanyeol leaned in once more, and he kissed Baekhyun very gently on his cheek. As Chanyeol pulled away, they shared another intense glance, before Chanyeol kissed Baekhyun on the nose, near his eye.

Baekhyun knew Chanyeol could only head one way now. He said it all with his bright brown eyes when they pulled away for a moment again. Baekhyun’s hands found their place on Chanyeol’s shoulders, while the Titan’s liberated hand moved to Baekhyun’s hip, as if to keep him close. Chanyeol silently leaned in to kiss the mole right over his lips, kissing the corner of Baekhyun’s lips in the process.

It was Baekhyun who turned his head just a bit when Chanyeol lingered, to be able to kiss him fully once and for all.

It was exhilarating, yet not overwhelmingly so. It was sweet, warm, and it felt comforting. But it wasn’t to say that the kiss lacked heat, and as their lips moved together with a bit more urgency, and as they moved closer to each other, as Chanyeol tugged on Baekhyun’s hair, and as Baekhyun pushed Chanyeol back to the bed, it became quite apparent.

Just for tonight, Baekhyun could allow himself to have this.

It could get very cold in Trostland, just like in the Last City. Baekhyun had always hated the cold, complaining to Baekbeom about how he could pick a place so cold when Baekhyun had scouted the Bahamas for him? Hawaii? The Amazon Jungle? Anywhere, literally anywhere else, where it didn’t get so cold? Where it didn’t snow?

It didn’t snow in the garden. It always had the most pleasant weather of all. Baekhyun thought he could lay down on the grass of this place forever, enjoying the breeze and the sunlight on his skin.

A voice told him he could. Another voice screamed for him to run and wake up. They were all muffled however, unable to make themselves known past a whisper, past a whimsical thought, past the barrier of Light Baekhyun himself had built.

Baekhyun still opened his eyes, staring up at the cerulean, clear sky above him. Another dream.

He sat up first, looking around with only a vague sense of alarm. He felt as if he had awoken from a long nap. When he spotted a man sitting on a rock not far from him, Baekhyun got up completely.

Like the baryon boughs in the hidden cities of the Reef, the man only completely took shape as Baekhyun approached it. It was Chanyeol, Baekhyun quickly realised, with a hand covering his face, pinching the bridge of his nose. His shoulders were shaking. He was crying.

“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun called, concerned and confused.

“I’m sorry for burdening you with this, man,” Chanyeol said then, voice wet and upset. He sniffed, and he looked up, completely heartbroken. “I don’t— it’s just. How do I even tell my mom? My sister? She’s about to have a baby, oh God. I can’t spring this on her! ‘I’m about to die, Yura’. I can’t do it!”

Flabbergasted and becoming aware quite quickly that he was watching something that didn’t exist, or that he hadn’t been part of, or something that not even Chanyeol could remember, Baekhyun called again, more distressed than before: “Chanyeol. Chanyeol! Who’s Yura?”

“There’s so many things I wanted to do before I— before this fucking happened!” Chanyeol shouted, kicking something Baekhyun couldn’t see. “I wanted to dye my hair! I wanted to get a tattoo! I wanted to see Nirvana live! Not die of fucking cancer!”

This had to be Chanyeol’s past. Baekhyun didn’t know much about those times, but cancer was something he knew Humanity had revered the Traveller for eradicating, once upon the Golden Age. It hadn’t completely left, in the end, true to its nature. Baekhyun had known a few people with cancer.

The Chanyeol in front of him chuckled darkly, hiding his face once more.

“You’re one of those believer types, huh? I wouldn’t have guessed,” The Titan said bitterly. “I’m sorry. I don’t believe in any of that. I’m sorry, Baekhyun.”

“What is this?” Baekhyun exclaimed, turning around as if someone would appear and give him the answer. “What are you trying to tell me with this?”

When he turned again, Chanyeol was standing, too close to him, face blank, not a single tear track or puffiness in sight. Baekhyun startled and backed away.

“You were wondering what happened,” Chanyeol said, sincere as he tended to be. “So, I showed you the future. Or the past. It doesn’t matter when it happens. It’s all the same to me.”

Baekhyun narrowed his eyes. Chanyeol didn’t come closer, but he didn’t step away, either. Baekhyun watched attentively for every move coming from the blond.

“What do you want?” The scavenger finally asked. Chanyeol cocked his head to the side, as if Baekhyun was truly confusing.

“Are you seriously asking me that?” The man questioned and shook his head. As he spoke, his voice transformed, from Chanyeol’s deep scratchy tones to Sehun’s deadpan, quiet voice. Baekhyun stared in horror as the figure before him morphed into the Hunter. “How many times, in how many ways, do I have to show you?”

And then Sehun was moving towards Baekhyun with long, purposeful strides. Baekhyun sprinted away, though it didn’t matter. He didn’t move a single metre, and Sehun grabbed onto his arm as he transformed once more.

“I want the Light,” Kris claimed. “I want your life, I want your happiness, I want all of you until there’s nothing left. As it should be. As it was intended.”

Baekhyun wrung his arm away from the strong hold and kept running. The Nightmare let him, as a female voice took over instead. Baekhyun closed his eyes so he wouldn’t have to see.

“That Warlock tried to warn you,” Sora Byun told him. “Not the young one— the one that I’m consuming. The one that reviles me and yet is fascinated.”

Sora changed to Baekbeom, and Baekhyun cried out as the Nightmare of his brother scratched his arms to try and get to him. “Look at me, Baekhyun! He warned you the gardener may plant all the seeds they want, and hope they grow. But it’s the winnower who decides which ones bloom. Look at me!”

Baekhyun, compelled, opened his eyes. He found himself face to face with himself. The original Nightmare.

“I am the winnower, Baekhyun Byun,” The imitation of Baekhyun revealed. “And you will not bloom.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this will be a chapter separated in two. It was way too long to do it in one sitting! Expect the next part (the action part) tomorrow or Monday, hopefully.
> 
> Dies Irae is a melody of the Day of Judgement, notably used in many contemporary music to showcase impending doom. The Shining's main theme song is Dies Irae. But hey, here's EXO singing Sabor A Mí: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nD8b9Ig6zs
> 
> I'm sorry :(


	12. do not mistake my weakness for betrayal

**xii. do not mistake my weakness for betrayal**

Baekhyun awoke with a startle. It took him a moment and a couple of blinks to realise that he was in Chanyeol’s arms, and that the Titan was already up, staring down at Baekhyun with worry.

The nightmare he had had was already escaping his grasp the more conscious he became. Baekhyun felt unsettled, but it wasn’t hard to relax again when he noticed how close Chanyeol was holding him, or how their legs tangled together, or how warm the other man was. However, Chanyeol hadn’t calmed down, and he ran his hands up and down Baekhyun’s back soothingly.

It was the sunrise. They would have to get up quite soon.

“Hey,” Baekhyun whispered after a moment, voice scratchy with sleep. “What’s wrong?”

“Hey,” Chanyeol greeted with a sigh, taking one of his hand to run his fingers through Baekhyun’s messy bed hair. “You tell me. You were tossing and turning…”

Ah.

“I had a Nightmare.” Baekhyun mumbled, hoping the capital N came through loud and clear. With how Chanyeol’s concerned frown deepened, Baekhyun knew it had. “I think I get what Luhan meant, now.”

“What do you mean?”

 _I’m too far gone_ , Baekhyun thought with a muted sense of despair. _Maybe not even the Traveller can help me now. The Darkness chose me. I’m terminal._

He could still feel Jongdae’s Light— keeping the Nine away from his mind and the Darkness only present in his sleep. He still felt clear-headed, like he could reason, and it was that clarity what scared him— even when he had a shield of sorts, was there really no way out of this?

Baekhyun had felt somewhat at peace with the idea of dying not so long ago. Like it was the only outcome. He had said as much. But after last night with Chanyeol and watching him look so soft under the pale light of dawn, messy hair, and those gorgeous arms in display, Baekhyun felt greedy for more. He wanted to stay alive.

Baekhyun had found it impossible to hold himself back, once he had gotten to kiss Chanyeol. It was as if a dam had broken. He couldn’t deny his affection for Chanyeol any longer— he couldn’t deny there was passion, too. If Baekhyun didn’t admit it, the marks he had left on the blond’s skin would serve as his signed confession.

They had hardly spoken or laughed at all throughout the night, only sharing harsh kisses and bold touches. It was as if they both knew there was a big chance they wouldn’t ever get an opportunity like this –to be together— and there wasn’t any time to waste. Baekhyun’s whole body had thrummed with agitated and urgent, yet happy and pleasurable energy that Chanyeol reciprocated in waves. There hadn’t been much time for discovery or for leisure. Baekhyun held almost desperately to Chanyeol, and when it was all over, Chanyeol hugged Baekhyun as if he wanted to keep him from the world forever.

Baekhyun had wanted to enjoy that moment. He had wanted to stay like that with Chanyeol, savour every second until he was satisfied, until he couldn’t stand being this close, until the morning came, and they invaded the Firebase and the Last City, and they could just _be_.

He had fallen asleep in spite of these wishes.

“I mean that we have to hurry.” Baekhyun opted to say to Chanyeol. If he understood something about the Guardian, it was that he didn’t take kindly to things not going his way— at least at first. Baekhyun reckoned it was part of why he hadn’t been able to explain to Chanyeol the extent of his responsibility on the invasion, but he knew deep down it was truly because he was a coward.

“Well,” Chanyeol uttered, after a small pause of just watching Baekhyun, offering him a half-smile that showed off a dimple, and oh, why couldn’t have they crossed paths earlier in life? “Let’s get going, then.”

The Titan seemed to hesitate for a second then, embarrassed, which Baekhyun found almost silly with their state of undress under the covers, pressed together as they were. The kiss Chanyeol left on Baekhyun’s lips was almost tame— chaste, even if he lingered. It still made Baekhyun’s heart flutter, pulling a genuine smile out of him.

He had half a mind to stay back in bed forever. But his conscience wouldn’t allow for that— not when he could hear a flurry of activity outside already, with the anxiety of what was to come buzzing under his skin. Chanyeol, with how troubled he looked and how much he squirmed in the few minutes they stayed put, probably felt the same way.

“Hey,” Baekhyun finally called when it became unbearable. He cupped Chanyeol’s face gently. “We’ll just have to make sure to make it back to each other again. Okay?”

He didn’t bother promising or asking for a promise. That was much too cruel. Chanyeol still nodded resolutely, lips pursing in a thin line, without adding another word. There was nothing to be said.

They managed to shower in turns, quickly and silently, fortunately not running into anyone else in the process. They dressed even more swiftly, stealing glances and sharing secret, awkward smiles as they donned their armours. In the kitchen, they were alone. Neither of them had an appetite, though, and instead, they sat in silence with their hands joined under the table, as if afraid someone would see.

As others slowly came into the kitchen as well, and the room became lively with chatter and laughter, no one called them out for being more morose than usual. None of the usual teasing they were often put through came— even Sehun let them be, just giving Baekhyun a knowing smile when their eyes met.

Before Baekhyun knew it, it was already time to leave the Farm once more.

He couldn’t pay any attention to the words coming out of Suho’s mouth, as the Commander gave the crowds a rousing parting speech to rally them. He slipped away, going back into his brother’s house, leaving Mongryong in the capable hands of Chanyeol and Toben.

In the living room, with his wife and his toddler and their new dog, sharing food over their new picturesque coffee table, Baekhyun found Baekbeom. The brothers shared a look of understanding. What remained of the Byun family was solemn, yet comforting and warm.

Baekhyun took a seat next to his sister-in-law, taking Taehyung from Yeongja’s arms just to be able to bounce the toddler on his lap, delighting on his giggles. He cooed to make Taehyung make even happier noises.

“You know,” Baekbeom spoke up. “When this whole thing blows over, and the Hidden get to doing a little digging, you’re probably gonna get exiled.”

Baekhyun blinked in surprise at Baekbeom. Then, he laughed— a short and lively sound. “I do know that.”

“And, you know, a lot of people have been talking about staying here when the war’s over,” Baekbeom continued, a bit more nervous. “I think we’re gonna need help organising that.”

“I figured as much.”

“And I need help fencing the cliff for this one,” Baekbeom offered as well, waving to Taehyung, who waved back at his father belatedly. Baekhyun tilted his head at the elder.

“So ask Namjoon.”

“I’m pregnant.” Yeongja announced suddenly, tears beginning to shine in her eyes as she grinned at the instantly shocked Baekhyun. The scavenger cried out in excitement at the news, and he leaned over to kiss her cheek wetly, Yeongja laughing at the affection, allowing it.

“What?! That’s incredible! Congratulations! How did you even find the time?!” Baekhyun praised, Taehyung complaining with an insistant ‘Kyoong!’ when he found himself squished between his mother and his uncle in their embrace. Yeongja cackled at Baekhyun’s words.

“I’m not telling you that!” The woman teased with mock scandalisation. Baekhyun wanted to hug his brother, too, but Yeongja kept him down, putting a firm hand over his arm.

“Do you remember how much help I needed when I was pregnant with Taehyunnie?” Yeongja asked him instead. “I had the worst time. And you were always there to help me when I wanted to kick Baekbeom’s ass for getting me pregnant in the first place. Remember how much time we spent together?”

Baekhyun did remember. And he told her so, a knot forming in his throat: “I do.”

“Plus, how am I gonna handle so many Fallen around here all of the sudden?” Baekbeom added, voice shaky with sadness. “I don’t have any depth perception. We need you, Baekhyun.”

The three of them were crying soon enough, while Taehyung stared up at the adults in confusion. The toddler alternated between eyeing the sniffling faces of his uncle, of his mother, and of his father, until eventually he began whimpering as well, distressed as he made grabbing motions with his hands to Yeongja.

As soon as Taehyung was off his lap, Baekhyun stood up and rushed for Baekbeom.

The brothers hugged tightly while trying not to sob too loudly. Baekbeom almost seemed to know something would go wrong— the eldest Byun had a knack for those things. An incredible intuition for the worst tragedies.

“Please, please, please,” The man was begging Baekhyun, “Survive. And once you survive, please come and stay here. We’ll keep you safe. You’re all I have.”

Baekhyun wanted to survive. He let out a choked moan of pain at the idea of not making it back to them, as he imagined missing out on seeing his nephew –or nephews now, or maybe a niece— grow up, on seeing Baekbeom and Yeongja thrive, on seeing the Farm grow into a bigger community apart from the Last City.

“You’re all _I_ have, Baekbeommie,” Baekhyun reminded his brother. “I will fight for you to have a future with your family. I love you. I love all of you a lot.”

“You are my family too, Baekhyunnie.” Baekbeom retorted. “Don’t ever forget that.”

Baekhyun could only smile. He sniffed, cleaning the corner of his eyes with the heel of his palm as he let go of his brother slowly. “Taehyunnie is gonna be so close in age to the baby! They’re gonna be best friends!”

“A little age difference keeps things spicy, I think,” Baekbeom followed Baekhyun’s lead into safer, crying-free territory, even if he still sounded quite bittersweet. “Even with seven years between them, they would still be best friends.”

They would be. Baekhyun didn’t doubt that. Baekhyun grinned up at Baekbeom, who looked just like Baekhyun if Baekhyun had decided to fight a bear and ruffled the older man’s hair. The big brother allowed the little brother to do so.

Outside, there was intense cheering. Baekhyun and Baekbeom looked at each other for the final time.

“Go,” Baekbeom prompted. “But remember to come back to us.”

Baekhyun nodded. He didn’t look back as he stepped out of the house once more, because if he would have, he would’ve stayed— even if it killed him slowly. There was still an opportunity to come back, but only if they took back the Last City and the Traveller. If Baekhyun couldn’t do it for himself, he would do it for his family, for Chanyeol, for all the new friends he had made.

It was time to fight.

Trostland, on a sparrow, wasn’t all that far from the Farm. Back when they had been on uncomplicated terms, when Baekbeom had just decided to move to the EDZ, Kris and he had had a race to the Maevic Square of town— and they had run into Arakis-12 for the first time.

More than accostumed to offing Fallen, Kris had reckoned he could take down the massive Servitor, and RouRou hadn’t exactly deterred his Guardian from the idea. Baekhyun, who had never seen a Servitor so enormous before and thought the little drones flying around it were suspect, had wanted no part on it. It had been a lesson in humility for Kris when Arakis-12 killed him multiple times in a row, and a lesson on how terrifying Servitors could be for Baekhyun.

After that, he had never again ridden a sparrow in the EDZ. He preferred the horses, or even walking the whole way, as long as it meant staying quiet and hiding, not bothering their grumpiest neighbour.

Until now.

“Does this give you back memories?” RouRou asked as Kris dutifully tied the Two-Tailed Fox onto Baekhyun’s back for him. “Remember when we ran into Arakis-12 and Kris thought he could fight him?”

“I was just thinking about that, actually!” Baekhyun admitted. “Your Guardian was very dumb back then.” Kris gave the scavenger a withering glare and Baekhyun smirked. “Don’t worry— you’re still very dumb, Kris Wu. Vanguard and all.”

“Thanks,” The black-haired Hunter said drily, although there was the beginning of a grin on his face. He grabbed Baekhyun’s helmet from the back of the sparrow and examined the white ‘X’ on it with interest. His expression gradually turned more serious and grimmer, with Baekhyun, Mongryong, and RouRou watching him patiently.

Kris always got into this mood when they had something important to do and it would risk Baekhyun’s life. He had never been able to get over the feeling of guilt that came knowing he could come back when Baekhyun and his family couldn’t. This time, even if they stood on common ground in terms of death, it seemed like the sentiment had only intensified for the Guardian.

“You have to promise you’ll behave, Baekhyun,” Kris warned the grey-haired man, like he had so many times before in their lives. Baekhyun rolled his eyes, but still smiled for the first time he had heard this. “I’m serious. You have a good fireteam with you, so don’t waste it. And you have… Your Ghost.”

“Indeed!” Mongryong chirped. “While I still don’t meet the minimal qualifications to be considered a Friendly Ghost, I will do my best to fuss over the Captain excessively, just as I have the Friendly Ghosts do with their own Captains, the Kris Wu!”

“Mongryong will keep me in line,” Baekhyun conceded, amused. “But that’s about as much as I can promise you, Kris. I have to make it difficult for the Cabal to forget us, don’t I?”

“That, you do.” RouRou agreed.

Kris looked like he wanted to say something else. Baekhyun waited for him with a sigh. It always ended like this with them, after all. Baekhyun waited for Kris to say something important— and Kris went on to do something unexpected.

This time, Kris fitted Baekhyun’s helmet over his head carefully, a scowl taking place on his face almost gloomily. Baekhyun, for once, couldn’t find it in himself to be annoyed with the Hunter, and merely allowed the man to do as he pleased.

“We’ll be fine,” He consoled Kris, who maybe didn’t need the comfort as much as Baekhyun did. “We’ll meet back in the City.”

Kris hummed. “I’ll buy you a drink. Are you legal yet?”

“Kris, sir,” Chanyeol interrupted from the next sparrow over, with a frown that screamed jealousy and made Baekhyun feel pleased and guilty at the same time. “It’s time for us to go.”

“And for us to go as well.” Luhan was suddenly by Kris’s side, a hand on the Vanguard’s shoulder, as if to guide him back. His face was covered, only his gentle eyes visible, and Baekhyun couldn’t quite make out his expression. “Let’s go, old friend.”

Kris pushed Baekhyun’s head to the side with care for all goodbye. He walked away, to check on the rest of the fireteam, and then towards the Guardians preparing to sneak into the Last City. Luhan lingered for a moment longer, eyes trained on Baekhyun.

“Will you join us in the City, Luhan?” Baekhyun asked, turning on his sparrow. “When we take it back.”

Luhan shook his head.

“I have other business to attend to after this,” The Warlock answered, as if fighting off the Red Legion was a scheduled appointment in his calendar and not much else. In the grand scheme of things, for Luhan it probably was that way. “So, I suppose this might be the last time we see each other, Baekhyun Byun. It’s been an experience to know you.”

“Likewise, Lu… Han.” Baekhyun agreed. “If I ever need to find you for something, though, what should I do?”

It was a loaded question. With eyes trained on them, seen and unseen, Baekhyun couldn’t exactly ask him much— just pray that among Luhan’s many powers, mind reading was one. And the Warlock’s eyes twinkled, like they had the first time they met— calculating endless possibilities, perhaps. The dice Luhan had slipped into Baekhyun’s pocket weighed, despite their small size.

“Just think of what you want from me,” Luhan simply said, “And I’ll do the rest.”

Okay. Baekhyun could do that. He thought.

“Lead the way, Baekhyun!” Kai yelled over the steady purring of their combined sparrows.

“ _I’ll be following from the air_ ,” Lay’s voice came through their comms from his Holacanthus. “ _We’ll meet there soon._ ”

Baekhyun took one last look at the Farm. Xiumin and Suho were organising Guardians into ships, personally handling them, arming them if they had to. He spotted Lucas with that Warlock he frequented, though Sungwoo was missing, talking animatedly. RM, Taeyeon, and Tiffany, were seemingly getting ready to join the fight as well. Baekbeom was nowhere to be seen. Kris had disappeared, maybe so he wouldn’t even have to see Baekhyun off. Luhan watched, close by still.

And then Baekhyun was off, followed by seven sparrows, towards Trostland.

The trip was far too short in the bikes— certainly not enough for Baekhyun to feel ready for what they would do. It was even more jarring to be expecting Fallen at every turn, and not find any, even as they reached the city itself. The presence of the Eliksni was certain— there were banners hanging from some buildings, Arc spikes stuck to the ground as if to threaten those who approached, symbols scrawled into walls. It was surprising how fast the Fallen could take over an area. However, there was not a soul outside.

That wasn’t to say the creatures weren’t watching. They always watched. With that in mind, when Baekhyun stopped their group in front of the church in the centre of Trostland, he knew they had to be quick.

“Is the tunnel through here?” Sehun was the one to ask in confusion, as he looked up to the familiar sight of the church. Baekhyun shook his head. Jongdae, at the farthest from him, was eerily still. Baekhyun couldn’t make out anything, with his face hidden behind his robotic helmet, reminiscent of an Exo.

“This is a promise I made.” The scavenger admitted, and he made a gesture for Jongdae. “What are you waiting for, man? We’re on a tight schedule here!”

The Warlock reacted almost immediately. He got off his sparrow clumsily, eagerly, and the front of his helmet opened to reveal Jongdae grinning brightly.

“First, I got the speech I asked you for, then I get to visit this church?” The brunet laughed loudly, uncaring of whoever could be listening in. “You’re not gonna regret this, Baekhyun!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Baekhyun waved him off, looking around skittishly. “Just hurry up.”

Jongdae disappeared into the church, leaving the rest of them to just wait. Lay’s Holacanthus, cloaked in the sky, could be heard hovering over them.

“ _What is he doing_?” The spy questioned, befuddled.

“No idea.” Baekhyun shrugged.

“He asked us to bring him here, but he didn’t say what for.” Kyungsoo filled in for the scavenger.

“ _It’s great_ ,” Pepper spoke up in their radio channels, sounding excited, even if covert. “ _You’ll see._ ”

It took the ten longest minutes of Baekhyun’s life for Jongdae to come out. Chanyeol was playing imaginary drums on the dashboard of his sparrow, Kyungsoo and Kai completely still. Sehun and Tao chatted quietly in the back. Unable to stay put a moment longer, Baekhyun groaned loudly.

“Chen!” He yelled in annoyance. “We don’t have time for this!”

“Okay, okay!” Jongdae called back out, and when he came back of the church, he had strange spiky rocks in his hands— Baekhyun recognised Dusklight when he saw it. Little fragments of the Shard of the Traveller were indeed scattered across all of the EDZ, but no one from the Farm had ever dared to touch them— they had stolen some Redjacks of the Crucible to clear the village they inhabited of the pieces instead. Baekhyun recoiled even when he saw Jongdae with an armful of them. “Don’t be afraid, Baekhyunnie! This is gonna help us out. Or well, us Guardians.”

“What is that?” Kyungsoo questioned, wary.

“This, my friends,” Jongdae began, as he handed a fragment to each of the Guardians save Sehun, each one taking them gingerly and hesitantly. “Is Dusklight. Pieces of the Traveller that still have a little bit of Light in them. Give them to your Ghosts, and they’ll know exactly what to do.”

“ _We will_?” Toben asked in their feed.

“ _Trust Chen on this, Toben!_ ” Pepper urged proudly. “ _You’ll definitely know_!”

“Be careful when transmatting, guys,” Chanyeol asked the Ghosts, and took an additional piece of Dusklight for Lay. He pointed it towards the sky, where the Holacanthus was supposed to be. “Lay?”

“ _Locking on the Dusklight to transmat it here now,_ ” Lay announced. “ _This is gonna be interesting_.”

As each Ghost transmatted to existence, Baekhyun watched as each one examined the Dusklight in their Guardian’s hands with curiosity. Toben indeed was the first one to softly gasp, uttering an ‘oh’, before opening up like Ghosts did when they revived their Guardians. The Dusklight in Chanyeol’s hand started to be slowly consumed, seemingly into thin air, but it was clear its energy was being transmitted into Toben.

“That… That was like a shot of Light!” Toben relayed in awe. “I think I could— I could definitely heal Chanyeol a few times now.”

“Really?!” Candy exclaimed, and immediately followed Toben’s example. She let out a loud ‘whoop’ of excitement. “It’s true! This is definitely going to give us an edge today!”

“This is very resourceful of you, Chen,” Ink commended with a mild satisfaction to his voice, as he too absorbed the power of the Dusklight. “How did you even think of this?”

Jongdae pointed back to the church, turning to look at it wistfully. The Warlock took a moment to respond, and he closed back his helmet before he even said a word.

“I’ve been here before, and I was sick,” Jongdae offered somewhat cryptically. It didn’t take a genius to figure out the man was speaking of his life before being a Guardian— though how many of them knew he had been sick was left to speculation. “I took refuge in this church. And I had a stash of these things to try and keep me alive.”

That was surprising— Baekhyun remembered the story of Jongdae’s death. It had been wolves what had gotten to him, in the end. When the Collapse had happened, and Humanity’s numbers dwindled, inevitably, animals had thrived. Baekhyun knew there were wolves in the area, even if he had never seen any around.

But there were wolves almost everywhere, really. Of all places, to have it have been the EDZ, was an immense coincidence.

“Who would have thought,” Baekhyun observed, bemused. He made a voice to recite: “Of all the gin joints in all towns in all the world, she walks into mine.”

“ _Oh, Casablanca!_ ” Mongryong said happily. “ _I have watched that movie for approximately fifteen thousand hours!_ ”

Jongdae cackled. “I told you that’s nothing’s random, didn’t I?”

Baekhyun chuckled. It certainly wasn’t.

They kept moving once all Ghosts were recharged, with minimal incidents. Baekhyun lead them out through the half-destroyed streets of Trostland, towards its outskirts, passing the Sludge –an industrial zone, with a way into the Dark Forest— and towards the Gulch, a half-sunken area in the middle of the woods where they said goodbye to Lay, who kept flying towards the Firebase on his own path.

Trostland had been a mining town. There were secret tunnels on every turn, and the biggest one would lead them right into the Sunken Islands and into Thumos the Unbroken’s great ship. If Cabal were smart, they surely would have adapted this tunnel for their purposes— at least, Guardian CL and her fireteam had reported so. The Guardians would abandon the sparrows here and continue on foot, until they reached the first transmat zone Lay had prepared for them.

Trotting inside, Chanyeol took the lead, making sure the Cerberus+1 was loaded and ready. “We have a tough road ahead, everyone. Keep moving. We have to storm this facility and board that Cabal Carrier. No matter the cost— we _must_ get Sehun to the Almighty.”

“I won’t disappoint you, Chanyeol.” Sehun promised seriously. “Lay, what’s your status?”

It was nice to see Sehun grow into his own and take charge. It would be even nicer to see him kill Thumos, Baekhyun reckoned, and was almost sad he would have to miss it.

“ _Still a couple clicks out, Sehun,_ ” Lay answered. “ _This girl’s heavy_.”

As they reached a somewhat open area –their ticket towards the Orobos Ventura— they encountered their first Cabal. Unsuspecting Psions and a Legionary were truly no match for Chanyeol’s auto rifle.

“Leave us a little something, Chanyeol!” Kai complained as he passed the other Titan further into the tunnels and ran straight into a couple of Legionaries, that only could shout before Kai made one of them explode— the other was Kyungsoo’s victim, viciously shot in the knees before executed by the smaller Guardian.

“There’s plenty of Cabal where these came from,” Tao joked. “I’m sure we’ll all get a turn.”

The tunnel gave way to an actual Cabal construct, and they twisted through some halls before running straight into a Phalanx. Baekhyun got the centre of its impenetrable shield, and when it staggered, Jongdae shot its head, the heavy body falling forward. The Warlock and the scavenger high fived.

The next open area of the tunnels was clear of any Cabal. A large gallery upwards, just as Bom had recorded before dying, was a perfect opening for Lay to come down with a Drake Tank attached to his Holacanthus and dropping it into the ground with care. “ _Heads up_!”

“The tanks!” Tao screamed joyfully, sprinting towards the Drake as the others followed close by. “Now we’re talking!”

“ _I’ve set up some transmat zones around, pretty sneakily if you ask me,_ ” Lay informed them. “ _Holler if you need another one. Sungwoo lent us a bunch._ ”

“He’s not getting them back.” Kyungsoo half-threatened, half-promised.

As everyone took their place in the tank, unfortunately mostly exposed while Tao took the driver’s seat, Baekhyun unstrapped the SUROS Regime from his back, feeling jittery and like adrenaline was already coursing through him. He handed the Two-Tailed Fox wordlessly to Jongdae, who grinned at him.

Almost as soon as they got into it, Cabal soldiers were coming at them. Once shot from Tao was all they needed, however, to show them who was boss.

“Let’s move out!” Chanyeol ordered. Tao didn’t need to be told twice.

The drake didn’t move particularly fast, but Tao was a skilled driver. It helped that the Cabal had the very bad habit of leaving explosives all piled up together in the worst of places, where only a well-placed shot from the Warlock or even from one of Sehun’s arrows could get them to blow up, and clear the way of the Legionaries that tried to stop them. Whatever Cabal the tank couldn’t get, Chanyeol and Baekhyun with their auto rifles and Kyungsoo with his submachine gun would gun down easily. Kai and Jongdae focused on bigger targets, such as Interceptors and Scorpions, which could hardly withstand the rocket launcher and the pulse rifle in their hands. That wasn’t to say they didn’t get shot a couple of times themselves. But the Ghosts could heal, and relatively quickly, too.

“Thresher!” Sehun shouted in warning as they reached an open gallery with a working drill. Tao pressed a single button, and ten missiles directed themselves straight into the small Cabal ship before it could even make a dent in the armoured drake.

“How do they build these drills so fast?” Kai asked as he let out a flurry of SIVA nanites into a group of Phalanxes and Legionaries, which were swarmed like bees until they collapsed.

“They come with their ships,” Chanyeol explained. “Cabal are always ready to tear the planet they arrive to into little pieces.”

The way through the underpasses of Trostland didn’t hold much surprises, although Baekhyun marvelled at how it was already half-cave, and half-Cabal base. There wasn’t anything the Cabal had down here could do against the tank, until they reached a gigantic blast door.

“I don’t think we’re gonna be able to shoot our way through that door,” Baekhyun observed. “The override should be nearby.”

Tao shot down a particularly challenging Colossus in a very enclosed space and pointed. “Baekhyun! Over there! They gotta be there!”

Without hesitation, Baekhyun got off the tank. He still looked back in surprise as Chanyeol came right after him.

“I’m not leaving you on your own,” The Titan said, as if reading Baekhyun’s mind. “And it doesn’t mean I don’t think you’re capable!”

“I didn’t say anything,” Baekhyun sing-song-ed to the blond. They both climbed into the small office, and a quick scan by Toben told them what they needed— the console they needed was on the other side of a door.

“Grenade?” Baekhyun prompted. Chanyeol nodded.

“Solar and ready.” He confirmed. Baekhyun stepped closer, so the door would open automatically, and they were greeted by a couple of Phalanxes— no matter, because they were greeted by Chanyeol’s concentrated sun, which consumed them almost instantly, making them scream.

“Gnarly.” Baekhyun complimented the Guardian as he moved forward, once the Solar energy receded. He nearly ran face to face with an Incendiator, but the Ace of Spades was faster— he shot at the jet pack on the creature’s back, and it exploded. Chanyeol, behind Baekhyun, got a Psion by punching it onto the wall, killing it instantly, and stabbing another.

“Hot!” Baekhyun complimented again, making Chanyeol laugh hoarsely. They kept moving, through the twisting halls and doors, and found themselves facing a Centurion, which made them both hide on each sides of the door.

“You got any energy gun?” Chanyeol yelled over the bursts of the Centurion’s slug rifle. Baekhyun showed off a pulse rifle on his hip, right by the Nine’s Cube. “Just this Cadenza!”

“Just this Cadenza!” Chanyeol mocked. “Get that shield, then!”

Baekhyun didn’t have to be told twice. He revealed himself, and began shooting directly onto the Centurion’s shield, who staggered— but the Cabal was most startled by a Guardian letting out a war cry as it came to tear the slug rifle right out of its arms, and then punch him, and actually headbutt him into submission. Only then Chanyeol shot at it with the Cerberus+1, almost exaggeratedly.

Baekhyun whistled at his brutality but kept moving past him. They were on the other side of the blast door, and indeed, there was a console ready for their manipulation. Baekhyun deployed Mongryong, just because he was there before Chanyeol and Toben were. “Show off, Mongryong!”

“Right on, Captain!” The little not-quite-Ghost chirped cheerfully, as the door began opening slowly. Chanyeol used the moment to be able to bump shoulders with Baekhyun playfully, and Baekhyun laughed. However, their moment was interrupted when Lay’s voice crackled through the comms:

“ _Guys, that carrier’s spinning up its engine. You might wanna pick up the pace_.”

“Tao, if Thumos leaves, the whole plan is a bust!” Chanyeol shouted, going from playful to tense in a moment, even if the door was already fully opened and it was Baekhyun and he who had to run to catch up with Tao and the tank, Kyungsoo helping Baekhyun up while Sehun grabbed onto Chanyeol.

“I’m doing my best, Chanyeol!” Tao snapped. The tank moved forward as quickly as it could, but as they reached a storage area of sorts, a Thresher dropped in a Cabal tank, even bigger than their drake.

“Of course the Red Legion has tanks, too.” Sehun deadpanned.

“This one’s mine!” Jongdae asserted, aiming the Two-Tailed Fox carefully. The Void and Solar charges released nearly burnt Baekhyun, who ducked just in time, but they got the Cabal tank. It still shot at them, even if it was burning now— but so were they.

“There’s a transmat zone near, we’ll exchange tanks,” Tao appeased them before anyone could complain much. “Chen, get it again!”

The Two-Tailed Fox, once more, didn’t disappoint. The Cabal tank hadn’t stood a chance against it, but now there was another problem— a large gap and a retracted bridge kept them from moving forward in the drake.

“We can’t fly over the gap, either,” Kai observed. “And this tank’s not bearing much more, anyway.”

Baekhyun could spot Legionaries and Centurions on the other side of the bridge. He pointed up to the Guardians, as he made a grab for Izanagi’s Burden.

“I’m getting those foot soldiers,” He declared. “You find an access terminal that makes you get that bridge extended.”

“I’ll help you down here,” Kai announced, as he took a sniper rifle from his back. The others all rushed up a platform, and almost instantly, shooting could be heard. Baekhyun would have to trust them not to get hurt, have them trust Kai and he to do the same.

“Kai!” He called as he aimed. “The right’s yours!”

“Since when are you calling me that?” Kai asked, but Baekhyun refused to get himself distracted, once he found the Centurion on the aim of Izanagi’s Burden. It was always the most fun to get the big guy first and watch the minions scatter and flounder. With that in mind, he shot, and it was satisfying how its black blood shot up dramatically, with the corpse falling to its knees and alerting all other Cabal on the left platform to their presence.

“ _Shit, not War Beasts!_ ” Chanyeol complained loudly on their channel. “ _This is like shooting Queen, oh no!_ ”

“Don’t get attached to that awful fiend, Chanyeol!” Baekhyun said, just to be mean.

“ _As a very good friend of the Queen, Captain, I must say I resent the implication that she is an awful fiend. She is missing a leg!_ ” Mongryong interjected happily.

“ _Colossus!_ ” Jongdae warned, sounding in pain. “ _It got me_ —”

Kai and Baekhyun shared a wince, once their zone was clear. Colossus’s slowing bullets really hurt.

“ _We got you, Chen,_ ” Sehun consoled the Warlock. “ _And this beautiful lever, I wonder what it does_.”

The bridge began extending back towards them, and Kai and Baekhyun cheered. “Get back down here, guys!”

“Can I drive?!” Baekhyun begged suddenly, as they ran across the bridge and shot at whatever soldier was stupid enough to cross them. Lay’s transmat zone was conveniently close, too. But he was quickly shot down by Tao’s swift: “ _No way_.”

“Aw, come on! Why can’t I get a tank?!” Baekhyun whined, but they did wait for the sprinting Guardians to join them, even as Mongryong transmatted the new drake into the zone.

“Your high-risk, high-reward combat manoeuvres can be effective and inspirational,” Kyungsoo offered, panting as they reunited and got onto the tank. “But Baekhyun, you’re a menace.”

“I’d be a million times more inspirational with a tank, D.O!”

The next zone proved to be the most challenging, as Tao drove them into an engine room of sorts, two Threshers and two Cabal tanks waiting for them— not to mention an Interceptor Tao quickly shut down, and a Colossus nearly at the end of the room. Jongdae sighed, long-suffering.

“If I had Xiumin’s Nova Bomb, this would be so easily fixed.” The Warlock mused.

“But you have my Spectral Blades,” Sehun countered confidently. “I’ll get that Colossus. Get rid of that tank.”

Sehun jumped off their moving drake, and there was a whistling sound, like a nightingale. Suddenly, Sehun was invisible, and the Hunter was probably off, sprinting to catch up with the Cabal. The slashes he delivered while unseen were precise and deadly. Kyungsoo’s Riskrunner and Kai’s Outbreak Perfected, combined, did a surprisingly good job of incapacitating the opposing tank, while Tao focused on taking down the Threshers. The other tank was attacked by Jongdae, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol, though it did take a bit longer— and Tao manoeuvring out of the way expertly to avoid getting hit. Baekhyun had to physically restrain Chanyeol for a moment to keep him from trying to body slam the tank as well.

They met an expectant Sehun at the end of the room, and he was pulled up by Jongdae. “What took you so long?” The Hunter teased.

“Shut up,” Tao responded. “Lay, we’re almost out of the tunnels and coming on towards the carrier.”

“ _Good._ ” Lay answered. “ _Remember— Thumos is a Blood Guard. He’s one of Ghaul’s ‘chosen’— what for, I don’t wanna find out. The Red Legion would die for him._ ”

“We can help them out with that.” Baekhyun joked. Lay chuckled darkly.

“ _My thoughts exactly, Baekhyun._ ”

The light of day as they came out of the tunnels was very bright. Baekhyun shielded his eyes, squinting, and was startled when by his side Chanyeol boomed: “They’re shielding the carrier!”

“But see those generators?” Tao told the Titan. “We need to take them out so the shield’s down so we can board the Orobos.”

And that’s exactly what they did. Tao drove them to each one as quickly as he could, and the merged fire power of the six Guardians and one scavenger was enough to get them almost embarrassingly fast— for the Cabal, rather than themselves. The roar of the Orobos Ventura’s engines, however, was almost deafening.

“Shield’s down, but the carrier’s about to launch without us!” Kyungsoo somehow managed to yell over the noise. “We need to keep it on the ground!”

“ _Couple missiles up its tailpipe ought to do the job, Tao._ ” Lay suggested. Tao nodded with determination, and his newest objective was set as he drove the tank towards the back of the ship with precision.

The missiles hit their target with an impressive explosion. The ground of the Sunken Islands shook as the Orobos Ventura was grounded harshly. The fireteam was off the tank and rushing towards the carrier in a second, not allowing for any Cabal soldier to stop them as they rushed up the ramp of the large craft.

“Okay, we’re in, Lay!” Chanyeol announced through the comm.

“ _We kill Thumos and we get the keycodes to his ship_ ,” Lay reminded them. “ _That’s Sehun’s ticket to the Almighty. Find the command deck, and you’ll find Thumos. I’ll be with you shortly._ ”

Making their way inside was quiet— almost too quiet. Baekhyun was thrumming, and he got his chance to fire when they entered the hold of the ship, where unsuspecting Psions began firing at them. Baekhyun was almost always quicker, even as one of them shot a telekinetic surge, and Baekhyun nearly shot to the sky, if it hadn’t been for Kyungsoo holding him down steadily.

“What’s with you Titans being so strong?” Baekhyun wondered in amazement.

“It’s in the job description,” Kyungsoo deadpanned and pointed forward to a large platform. “We need to get to that elevator.”

The most formidable enemy they had to face on the path to the elevator was a Centurion surrounded by War Beasts. It was almost too easy, with how Kyungsoo electrocuted the Cabal with the Arc running through the Riskrunner. Chanyeol punched one of the War Beasts and whined as he did. “This is horrible!”

“This is necessary!” Tao retorted intensely. “Right there! A console! Candy, check it for the schematics of the ship and find the command deck.”

The elegant Ghost was deployed and got to work immediately. It only took her a moment to pull a map out of the console, and she turned to her Guardian with a twirl. “All set, Tao! I also brought down the elevator for us.”

The elevator indeed was coming down, and it was occupied by a Thresher without any crew. Chanyeol took one look at it and began climbing it. “There’s an opening to the corridor. Let’s get moving.”

It was a steady climb for everyone, and Baekhyun was breathing heavily inside his helmet by the time he was pulled up by Sehun’s hand. Still, they moved forward without much conversation, encountering minimal soldier presence, until they ran into a door just as they were making it into the control of the ship.

“The door’s sealed.” Kai commented, alternating looks between Chanyeol and Baekhyun. “Where do we go from here?”

“There’s always another way through places,” Baekhyun remarked. “Candy?”

“Checking the schematics for you, Baekhyun!” Candy reported. She looked up meaningfully. “Ah! There’s a way through. See that vent?”

“You don’t need to tell me twice.” Sehun shot an arrow into the vent, opening the way for them. “No pushing! I don’t want a repeat of those Titan vents, you hear me?”

“I’m gonna push you forward when we find Thumos, Sehunnie.” Baekhyun threatened mischievously as he climbed behind the Hunter. Sehun kicked his shin for his trouble.

Unlike the vents in the New Pacific Arcology, the vents of the Orobos Ventura only headed up and up. The tubes were almost too smooth, and it was unbearably hot, especially when pressed in such a tight group. Baekhyun and Tao lead the complaining squad, but Sehun and Chanyeol were focused— and it was through their silent determination that they managed to find their way into the machine room, heat coming off multiple grids and Gladiators guarding the room.

Gladiators were always a harsh enemy to face, with how strong they tended to be and how sharp their large blades were. Kai was the one who didn’t give them time to even nick one of them, with the Outbreak Perfected releasing its nanites once more and making them unable to escape the technology that devoured everything it touched.

“ _So scary._ ” Monggu mumbled somewhere in their feed.

But it wasn’t over. Legionaries followed the Gladiators, and Tao pulled the blade off one of the dead Gladiators to rush towards them. He moved swiftly, using the blade like a spear, and Baekhyun used the opportunity to shoot with his hand cannon to Psions who dared to try and get Tao in the process. Chanyeol punched an Incendiator out of commission with a growl, while Kyungsoo headbutted a Phalanx shield to push the Cabal into one of the burning grids.

There was a Blood Guard Centurion waiting for them at the end of the machine room, and Jongdae used the Two-Tailed Fox again. It was almost beautiful how the Centurion’s shield dissolved into nothing and burnt just as its soldiers before it.

“We’re gonna run into more guys like this one from here,” Chanyeol warned them. “Be on the lookout.”

They kept climbing, but they were almost to the hangar. When Chanyeol announced so much to Lay, the spy replied with a terse: “ _Thumos knows you’re coming for him. Expect a welcoming party._ ”

“Are you gonna crash it?” Chanyeol asked, a smirk evident in his tone.

“ _You bet on it._ ” Was Lay’s final answer.

Two Blood Guard Centurions expected them, and they fired quickly. Sehun activated his Void bow, however, and delivered debilitating arrows to their shields— Kyungsoo and Kai didn’t waste the opportunity, shooting almost in sync.

The hangar itself, however, was almost overwhelmingly full. Just when Baekhyun thought they wouldn’t make it, Lay’s Holacanthus hovered through one of the hangar’s entrances, raining relentless fire over the Cabal that dared to be in the same place as the Guardian.

“ _Did someone order back up?_ ” Lay quipped. “ _Don’t leave the door open if you don’t want me to come in!_ ”

“Payback, let’s keep up!” Chanyeol barked.

This was where they would separate. Baekhyun was supposed to climb into Lay’s ship with him, while the others rushed to meet Thumos the Unbroken, and break him. Lay and Baekhyun would find Thumos’s personal ship and wait for the keycodes to be uploaded into their feed. It was their goal to unlock the craft and protect Sehun as he left in it.

Baekhyun made a run for it. Lay transmatted him as he ran, and the scavenger stumbled in the Holacanthus. The shooting and explosions all around them were much lower in volume inside it.

“Thanks for the pick-up.” Baekhyun said. Lay hummed for all acknowledgement. It didn’t matter. Baekhyun was prepared for some awkwardness and had actually been quite surprised that Lay wanted to come along with him to something as boring as unlocking a ship, while the real action happened away from them. In fact, he was surprised Lay wanted to be around him at all.

Maybe it was Baekhyun’s chance to make amends, he thought, once the hangar was clear of Cabal, and Lay flew them away from the Orobos Ventura and towards Firebase Hades, activating his cloaking once more. He could explain, and Lay would, perhaps, listen to him.

“Listen, Lay—” Baekhyun began. Lay shushed him.

“I’m listening to the fight,” The man interrupted. “Thumos is no joke. If even one of them gets hurt, we’re not gonna be able to make it. Their concentration will break.”

Baekhyun could hear the other Guardians’ voices in the feed –Chanyeol, Sehun, Kyungsoo, Jongdae, Kai, Tao, all making comments and yelling and shooting as they came face to face with Thumos and his Blood Guards— but they stayed in the back of his mind. He focused on Lay instead.

“You have to have faith in them,” Baekhyun urged the Hunter. He wasn’t just talking about the Guardians. “They can do this, and it’ll be okay.”

Lay smirked at Baekhyun, somewhat amused. “I thought I’d never see the day I’d hear Baekhyun Byun asking me to have faith in Guardians.”

“Miracles happen every day.” Baekhyun commented. They were approaching the platforms of carriers in the Firebase, undetected by the cannons and by the Cabal— there seemed to be a scuffle of some sort in the ground, but Baekhyun didn’t pay much heed to it. “We need to talk.”

Lay hummed again but didn’t mention his agreement. Instead, he said: “Cat, prepare to transmat Baekhyun and I down.”

“You got it.” Cat replied.

“ _The Blood Guards are down,_ ” Chanyeol informed them, as Baekhyun and Lay transmatted onto the platform that held Thumos’s ship. The Firebase was surprisingly empty. “ _It’s just Thumos and us_. _He’s going down soon_.”

“Where is everyone here?” Baekhyun asked in confusion. “Mongryong?”

“ _It seems the Fallen have decided to attack the Firebase at the same time we have come here, Captain!_ ” Mongryong relayed happily. “ _If their chatter is anything to go by, they must’ve spotted us when we made a stop in Trostland and have decided to aid us!_ ”

“ _Aid us?_ ” Cat repeated in disbelief. “ _Why would the Fallen **aid** us?”_

“Because they’ve decided the EDZ is their home, too?” Lay suggested distractedly. “And the Red Legion is detrimental to that?”

“ _Thumos is down! We got him!_ ” Kai announced with excitement. “ _And we have the key codes, guys! Monggu’s uploading them right now and we’re making our way over_ _on some Threshers we’re borrowing._ ”

“That’s great!” Baekhyun exclaimed. “Okay, we’ll wait for you and—”

Suddenly, the signal on his comm was scrambled. Baekhyun winced at the white noise and was forced to turn it off. Mongryong complained in the most cheerful way he could possibly complain. “ _Captain, that hurts!_ ”

“What was up with that?” Baekhyun wondered with a frown. “Lay, is your comm still okay? Mine just lost its signal.”

Lay didn’t look alarmed as he loaded his hand cannon, in preparation of what was to come. “Hm? Oh, yeah. Weird stuff. Right, Cat?”

“ _Right_.” Cat answered from his spot in the hovering invisible Holacanthus. There was something strange in the Ghost’s tone, which made Baekhyun’s frown deepen. He looked at Lay once more. Even if their faces were behind helmets, it was almost as if the spy was avoiding looking at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun reluctantly called: “Lay?”

“I was hoping there’d be more activity when I did this,” Lay began, out of nowhere. He sounded regretful and thoughtful. “How do I frame this without any Cabal around? But I’ll figure something out before the rest of them are here.”

Baekhyun was about to ask him what the fuck did he even mean, when Lay’s hand cannon was suddenly pointed at his head. With trepidation, Baekhyun realised why Lay had insisted on accompanying him, and why he hadn’t said a thing of what he knew to anyone. As expected of the Hunter, Lay was going to take care of Baekhyun himself.

“Lay—”

“—Take off your helmet, Byun,” Lay ordered harshly. “I want to see your face.”

Baekhyun did, slowly, partly so he wouldn’t scare Lay into shooting pre-emptively and mostly so he could win time. If the others arrived in the stolen Threshers before Lay ever got a chance to enact his execution, Baekhyun would be saved. The scavenger didn’t bother to conceal the fear and sadness and desperation that he was sure was etched on his expression. He lifted his arms in surrender, helmet gripped in one of his hands.

 _Mongryong, please unlock this ship_ , he begged, even if he knew the not-quite-AI couldn’t hear him. Still, Baekhyun felt a strange warm pulse on his chest, as if Mongryong was answering him. It was impossible.

Lay also took off his helmet, throwing it off the platform. His eyes were shining, but his expression was cold and hard. Rageful.

“Don’t do this, Yixing,” Baekhyun pleaded with the Guardian. Lay scoffed. “Please. Please. Let me explain.”

“There’s nothing to explain,” Lay cut him off. “You’re a traitor. You may not have known it was Ghaul who was coming. I believe you. But you left the City vulnerable for him. You caused this. You’re the reason we don’t have the Light. I can’t trust you any longer, Byun. Not when we’re betting everything on this working.”

Lay was against time, but he was debating within himself if he could do this. Baekhyun thought this was the only chance he would have, but instead of the heartfelt words he wanted to say, he only found blurting out an excuse:

“You said they would lose their concentration if we lost one,” Baekhyun alluded to the Guardians in desperation. “If you kill me, they won’t be able to go through with this.”

Lay almost laughed, but what came out was a bitter, choked off sound.

“If you die, Baekhyun,” The Hunter had to explain, “You’ll only ignite their Light further. It’s part of your charm.”

“You have to understand—” Baekhyun started, but against his own accord, his hand began to lower towards a certain cube he cursed himself for even bringing. “What are you doing?!”

His question was urgent, and Lay frowned in confusion when he realised that it wasn’t directed to him— but to Baekhyun himself. The scavenger seemed to be at odds with his own body, and as soon as Baekhyun realised what was happening, it didn’t matter if Yixing wanted him dead. He needed to be. “Stop— No. Yixing, Yixing, shoot! Shoot me now!”

Yixing did as told.

But he had hesitated for a second too long.

Maybe it wasn’t that easy to shoot your friends, even when you were furious with them and thought the worst of them. Even when they had sold out the only safe haven on Earth. Baekhyun never had had to shoot someone he considered a _friend_ — only enemies, only people he held grudges against, only faceless aliens.

But Yixing was ancient. Baekhyun was a friend, or had been one, but he was also only _one_ traitor to the City in a long line of traitors the Hunter had assassinated in this long lifetime.

Still, something had made him pause. The Darkness needed but a moment.

Against Baekhyun’s own wishes, he found himself opening the cube, and from it, sprung a terrible creature— the Abyssal Champion, the Unyielding Terror, taller and bigger than Baekhyun remembered it ever being, so large it nearly pushed Thumos’s craft off the platform they were in. The Unyielding Terror let out a low groan, not quite yet a roar and still too loud, as Lay’s bullet hit its body and not Baekhyun. It gripped its axe, only its blade already larger than Yixing’s body in its entirety, and it would swing it.

This time, it would kill with the purpose to protect Baekhyun. Because Baekhyun willed it so, just as he had willed it to Take over a Fallen colony, and attack Kyungsoo and Jongdae, and kill Acanthos, and kill Savathûn’s Emissary.

“No!” Baekhyun screamed, as commanding as he could, well aware the Nightmare had never listened to him so intently. “Don’t touch Yixing!”

Yixing stumbled backwards, shock and fear evident in his expression. The Abyssal Champion merely grumbled at Baekhyun, somewhat docile, unmoving.

“Oh, Traveller,” Yixing muttered, eyes wide as saucers. “This is— even worse than I thought. You’re not just a renegade, are you?”

“Yixing—”

“—Luhan spoke of this.” Yixing continued, ignoring Baekhyun, eyes fixed on the gigantic Nightmare. “He predicted this… So many years ago. You’re the Darkness—”

There were Threshers coming in behind the Hunter, Baekhyun, paralysed as he was. His Guardians.

“ _Lay, I’m making the executive decision to unscramble your comms_.” Cat announced without leaving room for discussion. Immediately, the comms were back online, and Chanyeol’s voice was booming in Baekhyun’s ear instead of deafening silence.

“ _What the fuck is going down there, Baekhyun_?!” The Titan shouted. “ _We can’t come down with that thing— get out of there! What is it_ —”

“—The Thing belongs to Baekhyun, Chanyeol,” Yixing scrambled to say. “He’s the one controlling it. He’s been playing us this whole time.”

“ _Excuse me?_ ” Sehun questioned. Baekhyun couldn’t make out the emotions in his voice.

“It won’t attack you!” Baekhyun assured, but he sounded unsure even to his own ears. He winced and made an effort to just close the cube again –once it opened, it was difficult to make the Nightmares it conjured go away— but eventually, he managed. The Unyielding Terror vanished into thin air, in a flutter of moths. “There! It’s gone!”

It was gone, but with its presence, the Light within Baekhyun had been consumed. The return of the Unyielding Terror brought back the unyielding voices and whispers, which slowly took over Baekhyun’s mind once again.

“Baekhyun’s dangerous!” Yixing warned, as he made a grab for his hand cannon again, even in his state of shock. “Do not come down!”

No words could stop the Kingslayers from transmatting down right away, anyway. As soon as the three Guardians were with them, Baekhyun found himself surrounded— they were protecting him, like a human shield. Lay seemed absolutely floored at the image.

“What are you doing?!” The Hunter demanded. “Baekhyun’s the one who let the Red Legion into the City!”

The three of them stilled for a moment. Baekhyun’s eyes closed, unwilling and unable to withstand the pain of imagining them turning on him as well.

But then, Jongdae muttered: “Yeah, we figured.”

“Answer me, Lay,” Chanyeol practically growled out, as he took a sidearm from his hip, aiming it straight at Lay’s form. Baekhyun couldn’t see the Titan’s face, but it was sure to be terrifying. “What will the Vanguard say when they know you’re out here killing Guardians out of your own discretion?”

Sehun, Kai, and Tao transmatted behind Yixing and shared looks of horror. Tao drew out his own gun almost hesitantly, even if it was a swift movement, to protect Yixing, while the other two stood in silence.

Yixing’s face darkened. “They’d say it’s another day in the life. You have so much to learn, Park.”

“Baekhyun’s infected with Darkness and the Nine have been using him as a puppet.” Kyungsoo revealed bluntly. “We only realised what it meant fully yesterday— but this isn’t his fault.”

“You knew and did nothing?” Yixing accused.

“We did something!” Jongdae countered. “And we’re doing it right now! Baekhyun’s not our enemy, Lay.”

“Somebody better explain what is going on right now,” Sehun was the one to demand then, but his voice was low, serious— not angry just yet. Not betrayed. But when his eyes met Baekhyun’s, they were stormy, and his mouth curled downwards in a snarl. “What do you mean Baekhyun’s a traitor?”

Kai looked shell shocked. He ran a hand through his red hair, as something unravelled within him. The Titan kneeled on the platform, memories coming back to him as well. Baekhyun could almost feel how he lost his grip on the redhead’s mind.

“When you healed,” Kai mumbled with impression. “It wasn’t Monggu. It was... It was…”

“Baekhyun’s not a traitor,” Kyungsoo was the one to speak then. “He made a bad deal, okay? He’s sick. He avoided being Taken by a breath.”

“What does that have to do with the Red Legion? What does that have to do with the Traveller being caged?” Sehun insisted. Behind him, Tao helped Yixing get up. Chanyeol opened his mouth, but Sehun shushed him. “No! Baekhyun is the one to answer! He has the answer!”

Baekhyun felt like crying.

“I-I let the Red Legion in,” He finally confessed. “It was me. I-I compelled Jongok to turn off the ISR Network.”

“Why?” Sehun questioned.

“B-Because I was trying to save my life,” Baekhyun explained, stuttering. “I didn’t— I didn’t know who was coming, or what for. I was following orders, to save my own damn pathetic life. I never— I never imagined— I—”

“—What?” Sehun interrupted him. “You didn’t think what would happen? Was your life really worth the whole of the Last City? The Light? The identities of— of all of us? Was saving us in the Plaza just a fucking ploy to get to play hero in the end?”

Sehun never shouted. It almost made it worse.

“No!” Baekhyun immediately denied. “Of course not! I never thought it would get to this! I saved you because—”

A pause. Baekhyun didn’t actually know why he had saved them. Why had he saved them?

“You always wanted to be a Guardian,” Sehun supplied for him, and it was almost mocking. Baekhyun felt himself freeze. “I never thought you’d resort to this.”

“How do you know that?” Baekhyun asked in a small voice.

“The Traveller showed me.” Sehun answered simply, but it was as if nothing was so simple. “The Traveller chose me, and you were the only one who believed in me from the start, but for what? What does your faith in me ever meant?”

 _The ship is ours, Captain_ , a voice whispered within Baekhyun.

“It means what it has always meant,” Baekhyun attempted. “Sehun— you’re the Traveller’s Chosen. You’ll save us from what I did. Because—”

**Because you’re mine.**

**YOU’RE MINE.**

**YOU ARE MINE.**

**Y O U B E L O N G T O M E.**

**Y O U A R E M Y C H O S E N.**

No. He didn’t belong to any of them.

“—Because I’m the Darkness’ Chosen.” Baekhyun finished lamely, as the realisation came to him completely. “Oh, fuck.”

Chanyeol, Kyungsoo, and Jongdae were also turning to face him. Baekhyun’s fingers twitched over the cube, hovering over it almost dangerously.

“This was always meant to happen,” Baekhyun continued. “I was always meant to kill you.”

Chanyeol immediately protested, making a grab for Baekhyun’s shoulders. “No— you’re supposed to heal—”

Baekhyun shoved him off, even if it pained him to push away the Titan. Chanyeol’s heartbroken expression said everything.

Baekhyun wished his last memory of the man wasn’t this.

The next seconds went by too quickly. Sehun pulled an arrow with the speed of light, meant for Baekhyun’s heart. Chosen against Chosen. Gardener against Winnower. Light against Darkness, as it always had been. But Baekhyun conjured a void, a portal not unlike those of the Taken, and the arrow disappeared into nothing as he opened the cube once more.

The void covered him, hid him from view in those precious moments. It was almost too easy to exchange places with the other him, with the one who wanted blood and destruction and pain.

 _I’ll let you in, if you drive them away_.

The other Baekhyun grinned almost ferally as he stepped away from the portal towards the Guardians. It began shooting, and the Guardians screamed, but they had no choice but to defend themselves in some way or other. Baekhyun used the confusion to be able to sprint into Thumos’s ship with the keycodes for himself. He didn’t dare to look back to see Chanyeol restraining his other self, Sehun yelling at them, Tao being the first one to realise the truth. Mongryong transmatted by his side, his eye almost a calypso colour, but the little drone didn’t say a word to his Captain as he began flying the Cabal craft off its platform without any ceremony.

“Baekhyun!” The scavenger could hear Chanyeol scream in despair from outside, even managing to punch the ship before it was too high for them. “Baekhyun!”

Baekhyun closed his eyes with pain. A shaky sigh. He didn’t even have to verbally ask Mongryong for the not-quite-Ghost to broadcast a small message into their comms.

“I’ll make this right. The Almighty’s mine.”

“ _I can’t trust you, Baekhyun!_ ” Sehun shouted, sounding hurt and upset. “ _You’ve ruined everything! You’ve ruined us!_ ”

“Trust me this one last time, Sehun _._ ” Baekhyun asked, as the ship flew off much too quickly into the atmosphere. It was too fast. Was this really the last time he would see his Guardians? Were they really his any longer? “I’m sorry _._ ”

Mongryong shut off their communications then, once more, without Baekhyun asking him to.

“They hardly fought to stop you, Captain,” The not-quite-AI remarked, without any enthusiasm. “Can we really do this?”

Baekhyun didn’t answer immediately, not trusting his voice. This Cabal ship required his full attention to be properly piloted, but he still spared a hand to dig into the pocket of his poncho.

_Just think of what you want from me, and I’ll do the rest._

The dice in his hand lit up with strange symbols, floating in his palm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey... I'm sorry. I know I said this would be on Monday, but this turned out to be one of the shittiest weeks of my life. I'm sorry if the ending feels rushed. I'm not entirely happy with things. The next chapter should answer all questions you've ever had! It was actually written before everything else, so it should be up sooner than most. Maybe during next week if life doesn't get in the way.
> 
> I love you all and thank you for sticking with me :)


	13. i am the scavenger who will outrun you all

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: for suicidal thoughts and attempted suicide

**nulla. i am the scavenger who will outrun you all**

_ACCESS: RESTRICTED_

_DECRYPTION KEY: 73XK5V2PG1$BBH-659_

_REP #: 000-SYS-HAC_

_AGENT(S): BBH-659_

_SUBJ: look, ma, I’m a breach!_

_Hello there, fellow agents. How do you do?_

_Oh yes, you bet I made myself an agent and got myself a decryption key. You’ve got a bug the size of Jupiter in your little system here. You’d understand a kid like me couldn’t resist the temptation to just poke it and see how far the rabbit hole went, right?_

_Not to worry. I don’t mean to spill all your dirty little secrets (who knew Ahamkaras were still a thing!), this is just a little bit of fun. For me. Not for you. You must be pulling out all your hair, thinking about how BBH-659 got in, how he has been downloading every log you ever wrote, how he has a list of names and codes and has spent his night just figuring them out, until he can catch your eye in the street, and just walk up to you, and say, “so, Hassan Shimizu, huh?”_

_Honestly, I’m cracking up just imagining your faces if I ever did that. Maybe I’ll go take a walk right now. Pass the Tower. See who I find. The chance’s too good to pass up._

_Anyway, see you soon, Guardians. Oh! You’ve got a leak, by the way._

When Baekhyun turned seven years old, his father reckoned a nice present for the boy would be to take him into the Tower and do some sightseeing.

The man had been absolutely right. Even now, if Baekhyun closed his eyes and focused, he could still bring forth the feeling of utter exhilaration he had experienced that birthday until it made him vibrate with energy.

And how could he not?

Baekbeom, thirteen-going-on-fourteen and quite versed in the difficulties of raising Baekhyun by then, took on the task of making his little brother fall asleep. He would do this by recounting the Guardians’ highlights reel just for Baekhyun, casting soft, pastel holograms on the ceiling of the bedroom to accompany the story of the Last City came to be, the admirable tale of the Six Coyotes, the heroics of Lord Donghae and Guardian Xiumin in the Twilight Gap, the great expulsion of Guardian Luhan, the lugubrious march of the Lost Seven, the many confrontations of Iron Lord Suho and War Lord Kris, the legend of Shin Malphur and Dredgen Yor, and so on.

Unfortunately, these stories often had the opposite effect of calming Baekhyun down. The small child would allow his eyes to droop and his breath to slow down, just so Baekbeom would leave the room, mission supposedly accomplished. He would wait exactly one minute, counting the seconds one by one, reaching ten six times, like he had been taught by his Grandpa Eun. And then, he would leap out of his bed, rush to his window, and stare at the magnificent Tower from afar. He would picture the tales Baekbeom had spun him in his head, and the images would become so vivid, Baekhyun thought he was living them himself.

He would scream and jump, overwhelmed with the emotions and adrenaline at times, until his mother would come scold him and put him to bed –for good, this time— with a lullaby or threats of punishment, depending on her mood. Baekbeom never learnt, and he told new stories the next day— maybe, he just enjoyed seeing his baby brother so excited. Or maybe he had been going through stories until he found the one that would lull Baekhyun to sleep.

So, basically, seeing Guardians up close? It was certain to be the greatest joy of Baekhyun’s short life.

That fated day, everything had been extremely cool to him. Most of the Tower’s inhabitants hardly spared them both a glance, in retrospective. However, the few Guardians who did— they were more than glad to brag about their adventures and show off their powers to a gawking Baekhyun and an unimpressed Joon, shiny armour glinting in the sunlight, cool capes and robes flowing with the wind, Ghosts twirling around Baekhyun and his father, the Light making sparks fly out of their fingers as they wove the boy patterns and drawings in the air, in blue, in purple, in orange.

Despite the Traveller’s dead form looming over the Last City, the Guardians were loud. They were confident. They were alive. Earth’s only protectors were everything Baekhyun had dreamt of and perhaps more.

And then, to top it all off, they had visited the hangar.

Just being able to stand so close to so many incredible ships, his father’s lumbering Cartesian/KO paling in comparison, would have been enough for Baekhyun. Joon Byun and the hangar’s manager, old friends as they were, were interrogating Baekhyun in turns about the names of different craft models, cheering loudly when the child succeeded and lamenting themselves dramatically when he didn’t. But suddenly, the alarm which signalled the arrival of a ship went off, and Baekhyun had turned to look.

What a sight that had been. Baekhyun could still picture it perfectly. A magnificent, impressive, beautiful vessel landed inside with the elegance of a dragonfly, and Baekhyun figured he might as well die right then and there, because it was— it was the _Mayfly,_ and there was only one Guardian who flew the one-of-a-kind ship.

Baekhyun’s tiny heart has been hammering inside his chest, threatening to burst out of it, when the Guardian in question has climbed out of the opening cockpit of the small craft. He was a Warlock, all loose and smooth tunics of a gorgeous royal purple and gold, his Ghost in a shell with an ever-changing neon helix floating closely behind its Guardian.

“Well, well, well! Aren’t you lucky, Baekhyunnie?” The hangar manager exclaimed, coy. Without any shame, she whistled at the Guardian, getting his attention. “Xiumin! There’s someone here who would really like to meet you!”

The child had been paralysed by shock and awe, as the Warlock stopped and stared down at his tiny form. Baekhyun couldn’t see his face behind the helmet reminiscent of a galaxy, and not seeing the expression on the Guardian’s features made him nervous— well, more nervous.

But then, Guardian Xiumin transmatted his helmet away without even a gesture, only his mind, because he was an absolute legend and of course his magic was that connected to him. He was pale, almost ethereally so, tousled hair a deep black and pretty eyes like those of a cat. He was beautiful, even a kid could tell. And of course. What else could anyone expect from someone so mythical?

A myth that somehow was standing right in front of Baekhyun in only a few strides. Baekhyun flushed into a deep crimson, looking down to the floor, just feeling too ashamed to be in the presence of one of the protagonists of Baekbeom’s many tales, when he was just a small mortal boy.

It made Xiumin, _the most amazing Guardian in the Sol System_ , smile kindly. The man got down on one knee, to be on Baekhyun’s height, and he tilted Baekhyun’s chin up with his hand.

“Don’t be shy, kid,” Xiumin told him gently— his voice was sweet and silky. “What’s your name?”

Even at such a young age, few things rendered Baekhyun speechless. Having Guardian Xiumin speak to him and ask his name proved to be one of them. His father stepped in to rescue him from floundering.

“His name is Baekhyun Byun,” He declared. “He’s turning seven today.”

“Baekhyun.” Guardian Xiumin echoed, nodding. He grinned at the boy. His gums showed, and he had sharp canines, sort of like a dog. “So, then you must be Joon Byun.”

“Yeah,” Joon Byun answered, almost reluctantly. Xiumin nodded again, but his eyes didn’t leave Baekhyun.

“You have a very pretty name, Baekhyunnie.” The Warlock complimented, and what happened next embarrassed Baekhyun up to this very day.

He just hadn’t been able to contain himself. He had always been an affectionate, energetic child, after all. Baekhyun had all but jumped into Guardian’s Xiumin’s arms, hugging him tightly, and the Guardian let out a strangled sound of surprise. Baekhyun’s father immediately rushed to apologise for his son’s effusiveness and take him away –probably a bit upset he too was embarrassed now, by proxy— but Xiumin waved him off. He hugged Baekhyun back, and Baekhyun was mortified to admit he had cried. _Sobbed_ , even.

“T-Thank you s-s-so much for keeping us s-safe from the Fallen, Guardian Xiu— Xiumin!” Baekhyun stuttered. “And the C-Cabal! A-A-And the Hive! A-And the V-Vex! I-I don’t like the Vex. Y-You’re my hero! You’re s-so cool!”

To Xiumin’s credit, he took it all in stride. He chuckled graciously at Baekhyun’s probably excessive praise, and he ruffled the boy’s hair fondly when he was done ranting.

“Of course, Baekhyun. It’s my job, and it has been for a very long time.” Xiumin had said, and even then, he had seemed almost tired to Baekhyun. “Now, I’d love to stay and chat with you a little bit more, but I really have to go report to the Vanguard.”

Baekhyun nodded solemnly, because even he knew the Vanguard was Very Important and kept everything in the Last City running smoothly. Even if—

“M-My dad doesn’t like the Vanguard, Guardian Xiumin!” Baekhyun revealed as he separated from the Warlock, still sniffling a bit and wiping his tears with his sleeves. Joon Byun sighed heavily but didn’t try to correct or scold Baekhyun as Xiumin stood up and dusted himself off. “He says they’re v-very in— in— indo—”

“—Indolent,” His father finished for Baekhyun. He hadn’t been afraid to speak his mind, even in front of legends. Baekhyun learnt to admire him later for that.

“Ah, well, I understand that,” Xiumin simply responded, as his eyes turned to Joon and he became more serious. “I can’t blame him. I’m sorry for your loss, Joon Byun.”

Baekhyun’s father nodded and offered Xiumin a tight-lipped smile. Baekhyun now understood much more than he had then— how much his dad had probably contained himself, how his contempt for Guardians was evident, and how much Baekhyun had ended up being like him, even if everyone said he was his Grandpa Eun’s splitting image.

“Did you have a long mission, Xiumin?” The hangar manager had awkwardly tried to change the subject. Xiumin huffed.

“Like you wouldn’t believe. I hate those worms.” Worms? The Hive were worms, Baekhyun had reasoned then. The Guardian had probably been somewhere in the Moon. Baekbeom liked to point it out to Baekhyun in the night sky, explain how every night it had a different shape. Baekbeom said it was made of cheese and darkness.

Guardian Xiumin winked down at Baekhyun and ruffled his hair one last time. Baekhyun preened, forgetting all about the Hive.

“Take care, kid! Oh, happy birthday!” He tacked on as an afterthought, as he walked away, and that had been the most amazing moment Baekhyun would ever live through— he was certain of that, then.

“I’ve decided,” He announced to his father later that day, once they were making their way back home hand in hand. “I want to be a Guardian when I grow up.”

His dad lasted three seconds before he began laughing. Baekhyun pouted and yanked down on the man’s arm with not much force at all— he was very little, after all. “Don’t laugh, dad, I totally will be!”

“I’m sorry, Kyoong,” Joon Byun apologised, between chuckles, eyes lit up with mirth. “I didn’t mean to laugh. It’s just… It’s a little bit hard to become a Guardian, you know?”

That answer wasn’t enough to satisfy Baekhyun, who only pouted harder. “Why?”

“Well, because—” The older Byun struggled to find the right words to explain, and he became more sombre as he stopped walking altogether. “Hasn’t Beommie ever mentioned it to you?”

“No.” Baekhyun answered, as if it was obvious. It was. Would he be asking if it wasn’t? Seriously, the big people around him were very strange at times. “What’s so hard about being a Guardian? Is it ‘cause you gotta train really hard? I can jump _all_ the steps from our floor down!” He claimed, as if it was proof of his physical prowess. His father looked alarmed then.

“What? Don’t do that!” Joon Byun ordered with apprehension. “What if you break a leg?”

“I have to practice for when I’m a Guardian!” Baekhyun objected.

“Okay, uh, Baekhyun,” His father then knelt, on one knee, just like Guardian Xiumin had done only a couple hours ago, putting one hand over each of Baekhyun’s shoulders. He looked like he was sad. “In order for you to become a Guardian, the Traveller has to choose you through one of its Ghosts.”

Baekhyun considered this. He had looked up at the Traveller— the dormant and silent and pretty much departed sphere in the sky, while all-encompassing, looked the same way it had always looked.

“Okay,” Baekhyun conceded, eyes not straying from the entity. “So how do I get chosen?”

“It’s— it’s already been decided.” His father finally said. “I know Baekbeom had told you this. You know the Traveller isn’t… It’s no longer alive, right? Like Grandpa Eun.”

“But you said Grandpa Eun is gone and can’t come back,” Baekhyun retorted childishly— as expected of a child. “And the Traveller is right there!”

Joon Byun made a face of resigned agreement. “Yeah, I guess it is. But it’s really dead, even if we can see it. Its last effort to help us people was sending down the Ghosts so they’d find heroes to save Earth, because it can’t really save us anymore. Kind of like Grandpa Eun died so Grandma Jeonghie could make it home.”

There was a small pause. “These Ghosts bless whoever they have been destined to choose with the Light. Who knows, Kyoong! Maybe there _is_ a Ghost out there for you. But before we know any of that, you’d need to…”

His father was really making this way harder than it needed to be. Baekhyun let him know, by pressuring him grumpily: “What! What do I need to do?”

There it was— the moment of truth. His father just blurted it out:

“You’d need to die, Baekhyunnie. You know. Just like Grandpa Eun, and we can’t see him anymore.”

Baekhyun’s stomach lurched uncomfortably. He missed Grandpa Eun. The old man had taught him many things— to count the minutes, to tie his shoes, to sing songs with strange words, to kick older kids when they didn’t want to pass him the ball, and to hide from his mum when it was dinner time.

“Guardians had to die and be reborn in order to become a Guardian,” Joon Byun continued. “But when they did that, they forgot who they were. So, if you become a Guardian, you wouldn’t know it was you to begin with— you’d be someone else, not my Baekhyunnie. And your Ghost wouldn’t know, anyway, because they would’ve just found you somewhere and it’s forbidden to investigate.”

Now, Baekhyun knew now that things weren’t so black and white. Not every Guardian forgot. Not every Guardian remembered. But back then, Baekhyun’s father was aiming to put him off the idea— and he had. Baekhyun still remembered the face of his father in that moment— it was one of those detailed flashbacks from childhood that just stuck around. That whole day had just stuck around forever.

“Do you understand?” His dad asked. Baekhyun took a moment, and then, nodded.

“I think so.”

“You think so,” Baekhyun’s father repeated thoughtfully. “Okay! That’s good enough. I think so, too.”

Silence fell between them, until Baekhyun finally stated: “I don’t want to die.”

The older Byun laughed once more, this time kindlier, and he wrapped his arm around the boy, pulling him close into a hug. “I don’t want you to die, either, Kyoong. So, let’s just stick to watching Guardians from afar from now on, okay?”

And for some years, that was exactly what they did.

Baekhyun grew up. With time and age, his admiration for Guardians would slowly diminish— he no longer wanted to hear stories about them, preferring instead to stay with Grandma Jeonghie and her peculiar ramblings, even if she sometimes called him Eun, or her little skulking fox, or something equally strange. Playing with the kids in the neighbourhood and listening to the adults complain about the Consensus became much more rewarding. As he grew even older, though only reaching puberty, he came to understand just truly how removed Guardians could be from the daily lives of the citizens of the Last City, and how his dad pretty much just had the same job without any of the glamour.

His father, his parents before him, and hopefully, his sons after him, had been something of a collector. A scavenger, Grandma Jeonghie called him instead. Joon Byun was cleared to travel outside of the Walls and into the wilderness of what Humanity had abandoned, in order to search for and bring back supplies, weapons, artefacts, tech, and whatever he was ordered to find— within reason of his own capacities.

It was those capacities which defined him. Since he only had one life, the eldest Byun man was methodical and extremely careful, especially after he had lost his own father and his mother’s sanity to one of these missions, led by a Guardian who was never punished for this. Joon Byun despised this Guardian, as so did Sora Byun, as so did Baekbeom Byun, and as so Baekhyun Byun learnt to do as well.

It had been this trauma which dictated how the man conducted his life. He did his best to never encounter hostile creatures or people and had never left Earth itself again— especially when Baekbeom, and then Baekhyun, began accompanying him.

Joon Byun worked hard to inculcate his rules into his sons. It worked grandly with Baekbeom— perhaps even a little bit too much. His eldest offspring wasn’t particularly interested in the family business, just like Joon himself, and would much rather stay with his mother, sell whatever leftovers his father brought back in the bazaar.

No matter, Joon Byun would often say to whoever told him Baekbeom was too tame to be a Byun scavenger. No one could quite fill Jeonghie’s and Eun’s –who had taken Jeonghie’s surname with pride— shoes, the man would explain. But he still had Baekhyun.

Baekhyun, who had the wild, defiant eyes of his late grandfather and the taste for adventure of his lost-minded grandmother, the kindness of his mother, the sharp tongue of his father, and a whole lot of wit of his own. Baekhyun, who wasn’t afraid to fight older children when they bullied him, until he had garnered a reputation for himself as someone not to be messed with. Baekhyun, who stole things in stalls on the bazaar and gave them back, because it was only to see if he could. Baekhyun, who charmed old ladies with a boxy smile.

Baekhyun. Baekhyun had turned out to be a bit of a loose cannon. The rules of the Byun patriarch seemed to inconvenience him, more than anything else. He begrudgingly followed them, however, because it was the only way Joon would allow him to travel with him.

Everything Baekbeom had detested or struggled to learn –aim and fire a gun, sneak into places, tinker with objects, exploring, camping out, flying a ship— Baekhyun would adore and pick up in the blink of an eye. Everything Baekbeom had tolerated and even liked –strategizing and planning to avoid as much action as they could, sitting still and waiting, cooking, treating wounds— Baekhyun didn’t care for.

So, indeed, Joon still had Baekhyun. Yet, Baekhyun knew he was terrified his youngest would find an untimely death because of his lack of caution.

No one could deny his natural talent for scavenging, however. In the privacy of marital bedroom, Joon would confess to his wife that his mother had sensed something they never had in their child. The boy was a skulking fox alright— something in his eyes, Joon would tell Sora, made their little Baekhyunnie seem almost sinister and dark. Deadly. He was small, just like a fox, and yet as cunning as one.

Baekhyun would become a formidable scavenger, Joon Byun was never afraid to say. He would probably thrive outside of the Last City, too, and every time they did leave, Baekhyun indeed thrived. But alas, they always had to go back to civilisation, much to the boy’s chagrin.

It didn’t matter he would never get to be a Guardian as he had yearned to be as a kid, Baekhyun consoled himself during those trips back home. As long as he had his Byun fireteam, their Cartesian/KO, a good weapon in his hands, and someone who needed his services, he would be fine.

And then, he lost the fireteam.

_ACCESS: RESTRICTED_

_DECRYPTION KEY: 73XK5V2PG1$BBH-659_

_REP #: 146-TUN-BAN_

_AGENT(S): BBH-659_

_SUBJ: you really gotta fill in these holes_

_I bet some of you thought BAE-006 would kick me out, not hire me. To be honest, I thought the same. Maybe I would’ve preferred it, because now I have to play nice with Guardians, and you know I’m sensitive on that. It’s a defence mechanism. You understand, right?_

_But hey. I’m willing to give this a go. Give this whole spy business a try. Extend a metaphorical olive branch to you and make amends._

_So, catch this branch, Guardians: in the tunnels under Bannerfall, Fallen have taken over the sewers and hold sparrows races in their free time. They’re pretty chill. House of Winter (pun so intended). My girl and I hung out with them for a bit. They even let us race._

_I hate to tell on my new friends like this, I’ll have you know. However, you’ve grown on me! Also, one of them totally caved and told us they’re launching an ambush during a Crucible match. So, someone tell Lord Donghae!_

Outside of the Last City itself, the Cosmodrome in Old Russia was perhaps the safest place on Earth that they had visited— and the Byuns visited it often.

It was clean— particularly, it was clear of Fallen and of humans alike. Something about it being too cold, and also, the fragment of Rasputin that was rumoured to reside there had made sure no one approached the site. Baekhyun didn’t really know many details, but he understood the basics of YUGA SUNDOWN and MIDNIGHT EXIGENT. Shutdown and long-term survival. Moral restructuration. In other words, no one who got too near the fragment of the Warmind was to survive, unless it wanted it to. And _it_ never wanted that.

However, it made their job pretty easy whenever they were there. They steered clear of the Seraphim Vault, and everything would go smoothly. If Rasputin was watching, they had no way of knowing.

Commander Sooman-52 himself had requested for this mission. He wanted the Byun fireteam to retrieve a piece of Golden Age tech— even today, Baekhyun hadn’t known what it was. Only his father knew, and he had never bothered to follow up. He knew it was valuable, but all in all, it was a simple task. Get in and get out.

Baekhyun had been fourteen when he found out first-hand that the Hive had been living underground in the Cosmodrome for who knew how long, undetected.

The terrible, wicked screaming of Thralls when the creatures detected _them_ had been all the warning the Byun men received, when Baekbeom accidentally activated an old motion light when perusing from storage room to another.

It was all kind of a blur from then. What seemed like at least five Thralls all jumped Baekbeom at once, slashing at him, tearing him apart, and the young man was crying out in pain, futilely attempting to fight them off. Neither Baekhyun nor Joon had wasted any time— Baekhyun shot with precision with the hand cannon his father had given him at three of the skeletal figures, while his father directly grabbed and stabbed another, digging his hands into the eyes of another, crushing its skull under his fingers.

More were coming. Now in the light, Baekhyun could see the furthest wall from them covered in eggs and worms, and he gagged. It was the entrance to a colony. It had to be. Joon Byun had collected Baekbeom’s broken body in his arms— he was covered in serious wounds. Baekbeom had forgone the helmet in such a supposedly tranquil place, and his face had been slit halfway, lacerated and bleeding. He was bleeding everywhere. Baekhyun gagged again and sobbed.

“We need to get Beom out of here right now.” Joon Byun commanded, and Baekhyun hadn’t needed to be told twice. Baekbeom was conscious and breathing heavily, trying not to scream as his brother and his father dragged him as fast as they could up the stairs they had come down, hoping and praying to be faster that whatever was behind them, shooting back whenever they felt something was close enough to catch them.

His father pressed all the weight of Baekbeom into Baekhyun’s arms, who took him in stride.

“I’ll buy you some time!” Joon Byun said. “Baekhyun, get your brother to safety. I love you both. You are my life.”

Baekhyun nodded and just carried on. He didn’t hesitate. He only focused on pulling Baekbeom back to the surface. It didn’t really register with him what his father had said. There was a whistling, a Hive song, and then explosions behind them. Baekbeom weighed a ton. He felt like crying, and he did so unabashedly.

The Cartesian/KO was waiting for them right outside the facility. He practically threw Baekbeom down on the flooring of the ship as soon as its gates were open for them.

Baekhyun hadn’t even thought of looking back for his father. He had assumed the man would eventually walk or run out as well, no Golden Age tech in his hands, already communicating with the City, hollering about being sent out with no proper intel on a mission clearly more fit for someone who wouldn’t die.

Instead, Baekhyun had tended to Baekbeom’s most critical wounds with shaking hands, first rushing to get their medical kit, and then ripping off flimsy armour that could not withstand the claws of Thralls. He pressed a long strip of gauze down on his brother’s chest, who hissed in pain.

Baekhyun looked up at his face and winced. He couldn’t tell the exact damage with so much blood, but he could tell there was an eyeball missing. He would much rather have his father tell Baekbeom of the loss.

But Joon Byun was taking his sweet time. So it was Baekhyun who dressed, as best as he could, the lengthy gash on Baekbeom’s chest, the one on his thigh, the one on his right arm, the one on his back, on his hip, on his face, trying to comfort his crying and screaming brother as best as he could. He really wished he had put more attention, then, on his father’s lessons on this. It was jarring to see the elder so distraught, and the scene would haunt them both for the years to come.

It was, by the time he was done, almost an hour later. Baekbeom had calmed down slightly, but Baekhyun felt he was losing him. Baekhyun turned to look back at the facility of the Cosmodrome, and finally realised his father had never come out of it.

He was numb at the beginning, as it dawned on him. He almost got up and just ran back in— however, one groan of pain from Baekbeom was enough to remind him of what he still had. What he still had to protect.

“He’s not coming, is he?” He asked Baekbeom, unsure if the elder could hear him, and sounding more like a scared child than he would have liked. He was one, though— a mere child, fourteen years old, with the closest to an adult only twenty-one and bleeding to death, no civilisation around them until the Last City, five hours away in the Cartesian/KO.

Baekbeom didn’t really answer at first. He just grabbed Baekhyun’s hand blindly, squeezing it with little strength.

“Close the door,” He croaked out weakly. “And call the City.”

Feeling like he was on autopilot, Baekhyun got up and did as told. He pulled down a hatchet the brought the big doors of the ship down slowly. The silence of the Cosmodrome was deafening, and inside the craft, it was worse.

He wobbled towards the control panel of the Cartesian/KO. Pressed a couple buttons. Broadcasted their distinct distress signal.

It was only a few minutes before a familiar Guardian’s voice blasted through their radio, demanding to know their situation. Baekhyun couldn’t really remember what he had said, even if he tried— something about the Hive, something about Joon Byun, something about blood and thinking he was in shock, but the exact words that had come out of his mouth were blurry. The Guardian had promised immediate assistance. Baekhyun left their tracker on, so they would be easily found.

“Now all we can do is wait,” He informed Baekbeom, and was alarmed to see the man was falling unconscious. Baekhyun ran to his side and began shaking him awake. Tears began falling once again, and he was unable to stop them.

“Baekbeom, please,” He begged his brother. “Stay with me. I can’t lose you too, I can’t.”

Baekbeom had only mumbled something incomprehensible. Baekhyun had cried, and cried, and cried.

And then, the radio had gotten hijacked, or so it seemed. There was a rattling static sound, a severe and robotic voice speaking in a language Baekhyun had never heard of nor could ever begin to decipher, and then— music. A guitar.

 _Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away_ , the radio crooned. It was a tune Baekhyun had never heard, and he just watched the control deck, stunned. _Now they look as if they’re here to stay, oh, I believe in yesterday_.

Baekbeom reached up. He touched Baekhyun’s cheek, staining it with his own blood, but it didn’t matter to the small boy— he was still somewhat alive, and Baekhyun breathed out in relief, as the voice in the radio sung for them.

“Hear that?” Baekbeom whispered with only a thread of voice. “That’s Rasputin.”

 _Suddenly, I’m not half the man I used to be,_ Rasputin crooned further, and Baekhyun could feel himself become that way— he was seven again, adoring of Guardians, and his older brother was trying to make him fall asleep with a story of times where Humanity wasn’t so done for.

“They had to teach him how to talk,” The Baekbeom in his memory, younger and fresher and without a speck of blood on him would explain. “So, Doctor Bray uploaded all the books, music, movies, everything that people used to enjoy so he could learn to communicate.”

“And did he?” Baekhyun, only a boy then and still a boy now, would ask. Baekbeom would hum thoughtfully.

“Well, apparently, no,” He would reply. “But only because he didn’t want to, they say. I’m sure Rasputin could talk, if he wanted to.”

Baekhyun came back to the present, eyes blurry with tears. He could make out Baekbeom’s small, pained, bloody smile through them, though.

“Is he comforting us?” Baekhyun wondered.

Baekbeom hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe.”

It was Guardian Kris who came to their rescue that day. He was one of the old ones, like Xiumin, but a Hunter instead of a Warlock. He had been a War Lord once, brutal and harsh, until he had joined Iron Lord Suho into a quest for justice and unity. Another one of Baekhyun’s former heroes. The man found them like that, Baekbeom still bleeding through his crude bandages, and Baekhyun no longer crying, as ancient music blasted through their ship.

His expression walking into the Cartesian/KO had been pretty hilarious, despite the seriousness of the situation. He had strong, expressive eyebrow, shooting up into his blond hairline in an angry sort of surprise, nostrils flaring. He seemed equal parts shocked and furious at what he saw.

“Thank the Traveller you’re here,” Baekhyun jumped up, frazzled yet sincere. “Please, help him. My dad—”

He didn’t really dare to finish that sentence. Guardian Kris only nodded, and made a gesture to his Ghost, who immediately floated down to Baekbeom’s form. They let out a hiss, after performing a scan.

“I can heal the worst of it, but that’s gonna scar,” The little light relayed to Baekhyun and to his Guardian. “You’re lucky we got here now. A little longer, and—”

“—RouRou,” Guardian Kris interrupted, his voice deep and deadpan. “Just heal him. We still have to find Joon Byun.”

“Right, sorry.” RouRou apologised quickly.

The Ghost deployed a soft light over Baekbeom, who closed his remaining eye, but this time, it looked like he was peaceful rather than in pain. Baekhyun took the opportunity to go after Guardian Kris, who was already leaving the ship, gun out of its holster and being loaded.

“Guardian Kris!” Baekhyun called to stop him, and the Very Tall Hunter looked down at him, intimidating him into swallowing drily. Baekhyun stepped back at once and cast his eyes down, trying to make himself even smaller than he was. He felt self-conscious about his appearance— covered his blood and with tear tracks all over his face. The Hunter beckoned him to speak with a grunt.

“I… The Hive has taken over this place.” Baekhyun forced out. “I-I don’t… I don’t think there’s much left of my dad. There were explosions. He said he’d buy us time, but— he never came out. Nothing has.”

Guardian Kris stayed silent at first. He surprised Baekhyun afterwards, placing his large hand over the crown of Baekhyun’s head. It was awkward, but it was an attempt at consoling him.

“I’ll see to that. You were right to call for help. The Hive has to be dealt with accordingly,” The man said. Then, he called out: “Rou, are you done?”

“Yep!” The Ghost replied, flying back to his Guardian. Flabbergasted, Baekhyun looked back at Baekbeom, who was sitting up and gingerly removing the clumsy dressings Baekhyun had made. The deep slashes he had sustained were scabbed over now, like old scars, even if still covered in blood that remained on his skin. Most importantly, he looked away. RouRou had been right— he would scar.

Without more ceremony, Guardian Kris transmatted his helmet on. “Byun fireteam, you’re good to fly, aren’t you?”

“I mean, uh, yeah, but—” Baekhyun tried, unsure. He wanted to stay. He wanted to find his dad. However, the Hunter didn’t give him the chance to express this.

“You’re gonna fly back to the Last City right now. I’ll try and find your father—” He mumbled the last part, but Baekhyun was still able to hear him. “—Or what’s left of him.”

And that, well, that had enraged Baekhyun to the core, even if he had suggested the same thing only moments before. The Guardian was looming and strong, but suddenly, Baekhyun wasn’t so intimidated as he was angry.

“Hey!” The teenager yelled. “That’s my father you’re talking about! You can’t make us leave like this! I want to help! I can help!”

“ _Really_?” The Guardian responded with disbelief, scoffing. “And what good will _you_ , a mortal boy who shouldn’t even be here in the first place, do to _help_?”

Baekhyun’s anger only grew. “I can fight! I can—”

The snort Guardian made was so appalled that Baekhyun stopped dead on his tracks.

“Did you even see the state your brother was in?” Guardian Kris questioned harshly. “Yeah, you’re not helping me. This is Guardian business. It should’ve been from the beginning. Joon Byun and his boys weren’t equipped to deal with this. Who brings _teenagers_ into missions like this, anyway?”

Whatever music Rasputin was softly playing had gone from comforting to something more ominous, something building up. Baekhyun snapped back.

“If you Guardians even _did_ your job properly, we wouldn’t even have to be here!” Baekhyun lashed out. “We’re picking up your slack! We have always been! My brother, my dad, my grandparents—!”

Guardian Kris didn’t even seem particularly phased –not that Baekhyun could tell behind the dark glass of his helmet— which only pissed off Baekhyun more. He was about to scream, maybe, but Baekbeom’s soft voice stopped him.

“Baekhyun, let’s just go.” His brother pleaded, still clearly weakened. It only softened Baekhyun a little, but with eyes still teary, he nodded.

And that was that. He stepped back into the Cartesian/KO. Rasputin’s music was a dark, tense thing, but with no voice to accompany it.

As he was closing the gate of the ship, he heard RouRou broadcast a message.

“Rasputin made contact with the Byun fireteam,” He announced, probably thinking he was quiet. But Baekhyun was terribly attuned to his environment, hypersensitive in that moment, and he perked up, alarmed. “He’s playing them _music_. When they get there, search—”

The door closed completely, shutting them off from the rest of the world.

“They’re gonna take the Cartesian from us.” Baekhyun realised grimly. Baekbeom nodded, as he gingerly began to get up and into the pilot’s seat. Baekhyun didn’t even know how to fly yet, not without supervision.

“We can’t let them do that!” Baekhyun protested to his seemingly apathetic brother. His brother, who had been on the brink of death only minutes before, was now ready to move on and do as told. It unnerved Baekhyun deeply. “This is now the only thing we have left of dad if he’s—”

“—We have our memories with him.” Baekbeom replied resolutely. He only then looked at Baekhyun directly, and he looked grotesque, his face clearly divided in two in an ugly manner. He wondered if Baekbeom could feel how his eye was missing. “Listen, the Vanguard has been trying to engage Rasputin in any way since the Last City was established. Remember that story? I know you do.”

“I do.” Baekhyun confirmed, not quite sure what his brother meant, as he got into the co-pilot’s seat. Baekbeom’s old seat.

“By making contact with us, with this music—” Baekbeom made a gesture around the ship, and the violins playing all throughout it. “—He’s uploading a piece of himself to the ship. That’s _extremely_ valuable to the Vanguard. Maybe even more than that wretched artefact they sent us here for. More than our dad’s life, for sure.”

Baekhyun felt sick to his stomach. Baekbeom was still giving him a meaningful look, as he started the craft, without even having to look at the controls. He knew them that well. He would miss this ship.

“So?” Baekbeom pressed, the one eye he still had opened wide, the white of it stark against the crimson all over his face. “You have five hours to find where he’s hiding before they do, don’t you?”

And Baekhyun then felt dumb and slapped his own forehead to signal so. The strange, severe, foreign, static voice from earlier made itself known again, probably giving instructions. Neither Baekhyun nor Baekbeom understood it, but Baekhyun got to work.

Back in the Last City, they were received by their sobbing mother –who only cried harder at the sight of her eldest son— and by the Vanguard themselves. Commander Sooman-52, flanked by the Vanguard Warlock Jongok and Vanguard Hunter Sungwoo, all looked grim and appalled in their own ways. It was the closest Baekhyun had ever stood to any of them.

“We’re terribly sorry for the loss of your father, Byun fireteam,” Vanguard Jongok spoke first, unknowingly –or perhaps knowingly?— twisting the knife in the wound. The Byun fireteam was no more, really. “He was an excellent man, and an asset to the Last City that won’t be easily replaced.”

An asset. It had bothered Baekhyun to hear her speak of his father like that. He remembered his father’s frustration when speaking of his own parents. He understood it now, why it frustrated Joon Byun to have them be remembered as heroes. As assets.

“He wouldn’t have to be replaced at all if you even knew what was happening in your territory.” Baekhyun spat out, trembling with anger even as he was held in his mother’s arms. She pulled him closer, as if to trying to shush him without words but with her love. To her credit or discredit, Jongok didn’t even look perturbed, much like Guardian Kris hadn’t, hours before.

“We are strung out as it is in resources,” She gave out for all explanation, sounding sympathetic and just not looking the part. “No scout had given any reason to believe seeders from the Hive had come to our planet.”

“We gave up the Moon to keep the Hive away,” Vanguard Sungwoo added mournfully. Baekhyun knew the story of that battle, too. He looked more wilfully remorseful, at least. “We hoped that would be enough for them.”

“But it wasn’t.” Baekhyun retorted. Sungwoo nodded, sombre.

“No,” He confessed. “It apparently wasn’t.”

“Rest assured we will do everything in our power to drive the Hive away from the Cosmodrome and from wherever else in Earth they might be dwelling,” Commander Sooman finally said, decisively, strongly. “Joon Byun’s passing will not be in vain. It has brought us immense grief, but also, an opportunity to prepare and strike.”

Baekhyun felt like answering. Like biting back. Like saying anything at all. Something along the lines of how the power of light-bearers was a sham, or something equally insulting. _Indolent_ , Joon Byun had said so many years ago, and the memory was suddenly stark in Baekhyun’s mind. It was as if Sora Byun sensed this, and in her endless wisdom, kissed the top of the boy’s head. It soothed him, somewhat. And he bit his tongue.

“Thank you, Commander,” Baekbeom answered instead, ever so diplomatic even with his face disfigured and hazardously put back together, still caked in blood and grime. “We’d like to go home now.”

“Of course,” Sooman-52 replied. “However, we have one last request of you.”

Wordlessly and already prepared, Baekbeom handed the keycodes to the Cartesian/KO to the Commander himself. Baekhyun’s own fist tightened around the minuscule chip they had identified. The Exo male nodded, and they were dismissed.

It took them a day to explain to Grandma Jeonghie what had happened. Eyes fixed on the Traveller, as if that way it would reveal its secrets to her, her expression didn’t so much as change. Often, after the news had been broken to her time and time again, she would whisper, “Where is my son? Where is Joon?”

Sora Byun lost her patience on the fifth try.

“That depends on where you want him to be,” Her daughter-in-law snapped, in a way Baekhyun had never seen his mother react. “Is he in the Collective with his father? Is he drowning in the Deep on his own? Or is he dreaming in the Garden? What is easier for you, Jeonghie?”

“In the Collective, he’s one with his father.” The old woman answered simply, with outstanding clarity. It was one of the last times she was clear.

Nothing could be found of Joon Byun’s remains. The funeral was an empty ceremony for an empty casket, to be laid in an empty mausoleum. Their friends and neighbours came, but none of the Guardians or workers of the Tower that his father worked with came— Baekbeom reckoned they didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention to themselves in such a tragic moment for the mourners.

Baekhyun figured they were cowards.

Some nights, when he thought everyone was asleep, Baekhyun could hear Baekbeom creep into the bathroom they shared. He would hear his brother turn on the lights, and while he couldn’t see him, he could picture him— staring at the fresh scars in the mirror, stark and red against his pale skin, tears silently falling from one lonely eye.

At one point, Baekbeom’s quiet crying would turn into choked, anguished sobs. Some nights, Baekhyun would get up and attempt to hug his mostly unresponsive brother. Other nights, when the weight of sadness and guilt was too much for Baekhyun, he would stay in his bed, and cry for Baekbeom and their lost father.

Only then, Baekhyun fully understood what Guardians truly were. A dying breed, warriors guided by the deafening silence of a being that, as far as everyone was concerned, was long gone, only its shell left in the sky— as if to taunt them.

The boy became interested in stories again. The ones not even Baekbeom really knew about. Stories of warmongers, of Guardians abandoning others in their time of need, of hunger, of fear, of blood, of desperation. Stories of exiled Guardians who dared to defy what had been fed to the citizens. Stories of how the Traveller had always meant to leave Humanity behind, and never could.

Baekhyun saw then that Guardians had probably long forgotten what being protectors and heroes of Humanity even meant. They were surviving. Just like the rest of Humanity. Surviving, cooped up in the single agglomeration of human populace in the whole of the Sol System, under a dead god that had abandoned them, as if hoping for a miracle.

Was there truly a need for them? New Guardians showed up at the Last City with alarming frequency. Baekhyun didn’t understand for what.

Humanity was done for. The Traveller was dead. Only one Warmind remained, and it annihilated anything that came too close to it. They were on the brink of extinction, their planet overrun by hostile aliens, prolonging their agony behind terribly small Walls they had fought valiantly to keep intact.

_ACCESS: RESTRICTED_

_DECRYPTION KEY: 73XK5V2PG1$BBH-659_

_REP #: 028-BRA-MAR_

_AGENT(S): BBH-659_

_SUBJ: the Brays are at it again_

_WU-611 and I were casually checking out stuff at the Seven Stars, and we found this floppy disc. Do you know what those are? I didn’t know. WU-611 looked at it like it was the weirdest thing ever. We had to ask FEN-092 if he had seen anything like it. No dice. But! Eventually, we followed a long line of tips and clues through the bazaar and we found a disgraced Cryptarch with an answer._

_Turns out, a floppy disc is used to save information in a very inefficient way. You need a special machine to be able to read them, and the disc itself is very sensitive to dust and heat and moisture. It can’t really hold much info, either. Could’ve gotten de-magnetised easily. And also, they pre-date Golden Age, so it’s certified shit._

_So, what it’s doing in the Seven Stars?, WU-611 asked himself. He introduced me to LAY-711 just so we could work together. We had a sleepover and bonded a lot. We braided each other’s hairs. We declared WU-611 redundant to our friendship. And also, we solved the mystery of the floppy disc’s contents._

_It’s a string of e-mails! Not any string of e-mails, either. E-mails between Clovis Bray and Taemin Bray, discussing all sorts of things about a certain Warmind of yours._

_Attached is everything we could salvage, which was A LOT. Thank me later._

It was nearly a year before Baekhyun saw Guardian Kris again.

Without Joon Byun, there was little way for the Byun family to continue their scavenging. Baekbeom was in no shape to continue, both physically and emotionally. Sora had abandoned the work when Baekhyun had been ten. Jeonghie was out of the question. And Baekhyun was just a child, even if he insisted and pressed and pleaded to be allowed to go, and that it was his duty to go. His mother wouldn’t allow it.

It was perhaps the wisest decision. But Baekhyun, only fifteen, struggled to see it that way. He was relegated to selling their wares and trinkets in the bazaar with his mother, almost every day. Trading hardly had the same thrill of being outside the Walls. Baekbeom’s scars ran deeply into his soul, and no bionic eye made him feel any better. Sora was stressed to make ends meet. Jeonghie was another step closer to insanity.

Baekhyun was smart. They needed this. So, he gritted his teeth and sold whatever he could, buying things from travellers and Guardians he envied almost virulently, haggling with them strongly until they were left in shambles.

It was in that stall that Guardian Kris found him, on a particularly morose day. Baekhyun could barely muster up a smile most days to man the little spot as it was, but when he saw Kris’s hawk-like face, he managed a deep scowl.

“What do _you_ want?” He asked rudely, when it was clear the Very Tall Hunter was not moving to other stalls, choosing to linger in front of the Byun’s. He looked… Surprised? “Whatever it is, we don’t sell it. Move along.”

“What are you doing here?” Guardian Kris asked instead, his voice betraying nothing. “Shouldn’t you be out there, risking your life, scavenging like a good Byun?”

Oh, how Kris wanted to provoke. Baekhyun laughed without humour, harsh and cold.

“With what ship?” He asked in a saccharine tone. “The one you requisitioned from us and we never got back? And as you so kindly said— I’m only a teenager, aren’t I?”

If the Hunter was perplexed, at first, it didn’t show. However, his Ghost transmatted into existence, looking as guilty as a tiny drone with only one eye for all face could possibly look. Baekhyun’s scowl only grew in intensity upon seeing the creature.

“We didn’t mean that to happen,” RouRou tried sadly. “We just— it’s been so long since anyone has been able to talk to Rasputin at all. Not even Taemin Bray has had that much luck in ages. And he went and just reached out to you! We didn’t know the Vanguard would take away your livelihood like this.”

“Well, it’s exactly what you achieved,” Baekhyun snarked. “You little snitch.”

“There’s a lot we forgave the Vanguard for,” Kris suddenly said, somehow not looking offended for his Ghost. “Things we’ve turned a blind eye to. Things we shouldn’t have let pass. We’re sick and tired of them.”

Baekhyun hadn’t been expecting that confession. He took a moment to examine Kris more carefully and saw a man who was exhausted and frustrated. It was all it took to pop the festering anger he had been harbouring against Kris for the past year and somehow make the resentment against the Vanguard seep even deeper into his soul.

They awkwardly stared at each other for a couple of minutes, without anything to say. People came and went behind Kris, wary of approaching the Byun stall when the Very Tall Hunter was blocking it with his body. It was nearing twilight. Baekhyun would have to close shop soon, anyway.

“It’s late,” Baekhyun finally said. “They’re waiting for me at home.”

“Right, right,” Kris took the hint, and nodded vigorously, seemingly just as eager as to get away from the situation as Baekhyun did. “I should probably get going, too. Uhm. I want to say sorry for what happened, uh…”

He trailed off. Baekhyun watched him for a moment. Realisation coming over him, he snorted.

“You don’t even know my name, do you?” He asked with hardly concealed condescension. RouRou’s eye widened. Kris stiffened. “It’s Baekhyun, Guardian Kris Wu. Baekhyun Byun.”

“I won’t forget that, Baekhyun.” Kris promised.

Baekhyun dutifully began putting away his products and wares, closing up the stall, locking it, cleaning it. He expected Kris to walk away with RouRou during the whole process, but the Guardian shuffled uncomfortably in his spot— as if waiting for Baekhyun. The boy dragged things as much as he could, just to see if Kris would finally leave. When there was nothing left to do but go home, Baekhyun sighed, and levelled the much bigger than himself Hunter with a glare.

“Didn’t you say you had to go?” He questioned.

“I changed my mind,” Kris replied. “Let me walk you home, Baekhyun.”

Although his first instinct had been to say no, to curse Kris and threaten him to never visit him at the bazaar again, Baekhyun found himself considering it. Baekhyun hadn’t known back then, but now, he realised that encounter had been an opportunity— a turning point. Nothing that followed would have happened, maybe, if he had denied Kris’s offer.

“Okay,” Baekhyun agreed after a moment. “Keep up, Guardian.”

Guardian Kris quickly became only Kris after that day. Both he and his Ghost were dorky and endearing, despite all appearances, and came to fetch Baekhyun at his stall every day to walk him home. A trusting, affectionate boy, even with the forever growing contempt within him, Baekhyun warmed up to the man easily. At first, he asked if the stories he had been told about him were true— Kris answered to every question sincerely, wistfully, even smugly at times. Afterwards, when the legends of old had been exhausted, Baekhyun asked about what kept the Hunter busy these days. As it turned out, adventures so heroic they made it into the word of mouth of the Last City’s streets were few and far between.

“We’re in the Ghost Community Theatre,” Kris would admit to one day, Baekhyun laughing at the idea of imagining the once ruthless War Lord playing a character on a stage. “RouRou is one hell of a playwriter. You should come check one of our shows soon.”

Within time, Baekhyun trusted Kris with his frustrations. He told the man of how he yearned to leave the City once more— of how he wasn’t scared of what could happen to him, but of wasting away if he stayed put a second longer. He told Kris of the screaming matches he would have with his mother over the subject, Baekbeom fleeing into his room and his grandmother stoically bearing it all. He told Kris how much he missed his father, how much he wanted to see him again, how he had even prayed the Traveller to send a Ghost down to him so Joon Byun would be back— perhaps not remembering him, but alive, as he was meant to be.

Kris never said anything about it, but Baekhyun could sense it— something had happened between the Hunter and the Vanguard. He would ignore their calls whenever they sent for him, refuse missions of all sorts, come for Baekhyun after long conferences with the Speaker. Kris was looking for something new. Kris wanted a way to defy their orders and do as he pleased.

Maybe, the idea had been brewing for a while by the time Kris asked. Maybe, it was impulsive, blurted out by Kris in the heat of the moment. It no longer mattered, truly.

“Can you shoot, Baekhyun?” Kris wondered over ice cream one night. Baekhyun nodded between licks to his strawberry cone. “Can you fly a ship?”

“Who do you take me for?” Baekhyun countered. “Of course I can! I can do it all. I just… Don’t have the permission. Since I’m the baby and all.”

Kris hummed.

“If all that’s keeping your mum from saying yes is you being unsupervised,” The Hunter began confidently, “Then I think it’s obvious what you should do.”

“And what is that?” Baekhyun humoured the man.

“Go with me, Baekhyun Byun,” Kris offered at last, unknowingly sentencing them both. “I’ll supervise you, so you can scavenge. I’ll take you to see the stars.”

If Baekhyun was pressed to pinpoint a moment when his image of Kris changed to something more romantic and adoring, Baekhyun would pick this moment— Kris with an ice cream cone in his hand, under the lanterns of the street Baekhyun lived in, blond and dashing, promising Baekhyun to take him to see the stars.

The boy’s strawberry cone fell to the ground almost in slow motion.

Sora Byun had been against it, when that very same night, Baekhyun brought Kris over, urging the Guardian to speak with his mother.

“Absolutely not,” The woman declared almost immediately. “I will not lose my son to this. No. Not even you, Guardian, could save my boy if the stars willed it so.”

“Mum!” Baekhyun had yelled, afraid that his only chance would slip past his fingers with a simple ‘no’. “We can’t keep going like this! We have a duty to the City!”

“You have a duty to your family, Baekhyun!” She had shouted back, voice cracking with tears, uncaring that Kris was right there.

“Baekhyun isn’t meant to be stuck in the bazaar, ma’am,” Kris defended their idea. “He’s meant to do something greater. In everything he does, I see a little bit of Eun Byun in him—”

“—Eun,” Sora Byun parroted almost mockingly, disbelieving. “Eun is _dead_. Joon is dead. Baekbeom will never be the same. I won’t allow Baekhyun to have the same fate as them.”

“Enough!” Jeonghie’s voice suddenly boomed, startling them all. She had been sitting in her chair, staring up at the Traveller, uncaring of the world around her as she had always been. But now, she was standing, shaking with the strength it took to lift her frail body up and turn to them. Baekhyun rushed to try and help her, but she slapped his hands away with both her robotic skeletic hand and the one made of skin. “I will not stand for any of this!”

Sora, Baekhyun, and Kris were stunned into silence. Baekbeom came out of his room silently, sneakily, when he realised it was his grandmother shouting.

“My grandson is a _Byun_ , Sora.” Jeonghie sentenced strongly. “We come from the times of Takanome’s Rangers. We planted the blue flowers that guided the pilgrims ourselves. We were never meant to stay put and hope for the best. _We_ make our own way.”

“Jeonghie,” Sora Byun tried, “Kyoong’s only fifteen—”

The elder shushed her daughter-in-law harshly.

“And at fifteen, he’s much more capable than any Guardian in their first year of being light-borne. Those who wield the Light weren’t always there to protect us. You may have forgotten this, but Baekhyun feels this in his bones, as any Byun should. He’s not a doe waiting to be hunted or looking for safety in the numbers of the pack. No— he is a skulking fox. He is the scavenger who will outrun us all, whether you allow for it or not.”

It was a strange analogy. His grandmother tended to use strange analogies, whenever she did speak. The pet name made no sense to Baekhyun. But he liked it, and when he faced his mother, he stood a bit prouder, more defiant and rebellious.

It had resonated, too, within Sora Byun. The words her husband had spoken so long ago came back, as she took in the twinkle in Baekhyun’s eye. Cunning. Deadly. Immature, perhaps, but ambitious. Dark. Wild. Even despite the glow of innocence and childhood still being present, even if he was a cheerful boy, the fire within him was strong.

“Mum,” Baekbeom interjected almost shyly from his place on the doorframe of his room. “Let Baekhyun go. He’ll wilt with us.”

With the Guardian, the grandmother, and the two children staring her down, Sora felt foreign in her own family— she had married into the Byun family, much like Eun before her had done. But the difference between Eun and Sora was that Eun was bordering on reckless, while Sora had always been cautious. Eun had been fierce even in his old age, and what frustrated him most was that his own child had inherited a will of iron, yet none of that wildness, and that Sora was no better than Joon.

Sora was an outsider. Outnumbered. Outrun.

Sora Byun let out a deep breath. Closed her eyes. Gathered her wits. Opened them again when she felt ready to face her son.

_ACCESS: RESTRICTED_

_DECRYPTION KEY: 73XK5V2PG1$BBH-659_

_REP #: 075-TKN-PHO_

_AGENT(S): BBH-659_

_SUBJ: a little note on the Taken_

_I don’t think I say anything new when I tell you these creatures are terrifying. I have never seen anything quite like them. I doubt any of you have, either._

_Against all warnings and suggestions, I came to Phobos to see them for myself. I want to understand them. Something about them is really intriguing. I have been watching them for almost a week now, in this abandoned moon._

_Why Taken? Who came up with this name? They are taken, indeed, from their original form to become these… These changed, maybe better beings. A large Knight, covered in stars, the biggest I have ever seen, guides them through the… Change._

_The process is simple; I have watched it now too many times. An aperture opens, like a jaw, and swallows a living thing. It passes into another place, and later, it returns (almost immediately). What returns are the creatures._

_The Taken shine with seething, negative light. As if the universe is curling up around them. As if they radiate some pathology that decays into our world as nothingness. They serve Oryx, this much we know, but those jaws must lead somewhere else._

_Where? I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it. But the longer I stay, the more I swear I can hear its voice. To every creature, the jaws offer something and they… They accept it. I promise you; this is a voluntary process. I have watched too long, and therefore, I see. There’s a moment of submission._

_What do the jaws say? Many things. I will go mad if I stay any longer, trying to listen to these whispers and promises. I don’t know why I can even make them out._

_Forgive me. I know this isn’t my usual style. I guess I’ve been in the shadows for too long._

Baekhyun would travel and see the stars with Kris many times, in the forthcoming years.

“You have to promise you’ll behave, Baekhyun.” Kris would sternly say before every mission, without fail, even as Baekhyun grew taller –though never as tall as the Hunter— and stealthier, stronger, more handsome, more confident, wittier, and more bitter. The first few times, Baekhyun would nod vigorously, eager to please and to prove himself to Kris. As the years passed, and the definitions of behaving changed for both of them, Baekhyun would only roll his eyes and nod noncommittally.

They saw Mercury together. Venus. Old cities and the expanses of Earth. The Moon. Mars. The Tangled Shore and the Vestian Outposts of the Reef. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and every single moon the planets had to offer. Pluto. And then, Baekhyun saw all these places once more, on his own, as he reached maturity and with it, his full liberty.

He fashioned the first prototype of the Ace of Spades at sixteen. He had always found inspiration in the descriptions of Shin Malphur’s original Golden Gun, and when he saw Kris wield it for the first time, to protect Baekhyun from Marauders threatening to rip him apart in the Tangled Shore, Baekhyun fell in love.

He got his first tattoo at seventeen. It was an impulsive decision, after finding himself enchanted with the abstract rendition of a star in a philosophy book he didn’t even bother to understand. Kris hadn’t said anything about it resembling Xiaotong then, only commenting it suited the boy and Baekhyun preening under his praise.

He got his first ship and named it the Skulking Fox at eighteen. The Skulking Fox was small, a metallic red and black, with no more space for anyone other than himself. However, it was smooth-driving and agile, which suited Baekhyun’s needs just fine.

He was allowed into the Hidden at nineteen, under Kris’s protection and mentorship after finding a bug so big in their system, Baekhyun thought he might be able to crawl through physically. Kris had argued to Jongok that this only proved Baekhyun was perfect to be a spy— he was a sneaky little shit, had been the Hunter’s exact words.

He fell in love with Taeyeon at twenty. She was a sniper in the militia, older than him, and absolutely stunning. They raced in the tunnels and sewers together, visited the Twilight Gap together. It helped that she liked to break as many rules as she could, just like Baekhyun, and though at first he had to trail after her like a puppy, eventually, Taeyeon fell for his charms. They were formidable together, attached at the hip.

He lost his grandmother to old age at twenty-one. Even though she had been reduced to silence at least a couple of years before, that day she had moved and petted his hair tenderly, the Vex hand that so often did its own bidding listening to her commands, whispering, “My little skulking fox.” She left them in her sleep— the most peaceful Byun death in five generations.

He bought Baekbeom a drink at twenty-two, so he would talk to the pretty lady in the bar. His older brother, who had experimented with bionic eyes for a while and never felt quite comfortable, had finally decided to just use an eyepatch— Baekhyun commended the decision, because it made Baekbeom look more rugged and handsome. The man had taken a long time to grow into his scarred skin and face, but Yeongja had taken his breath away. A liquid courage had gone a long way.

He lost his mother to a disease as old as Humanity at twenty-three. She had coughed her lungs out until they bled, losing so much weight, becoming so pale, she was a living corpse. Baekbeom had finally come along to travel with Baekhyun, and they missed how wasted away she became in very little time. It was almost as she was ready to welcome death, even though she wasn’t old enough. Exhausted, frail, and sickly, through crystal in a hospital, was the last time Baekhyun got to see Sora Byun, before she finally rested.

He broke up with Taeyeon at twenty-four. They had broken up and made up many times during the years they spent together, and had finally reached a tipping point. They had spent Dawning together, with the end in sight. She ended things under the fireworks of the New Year, kissing his cheek goodbye, whispering: “You’re an open book, Baekyoong. You don’t love me like you used to, and that’s okay.” He hadn't even managed to be upset.

He realised he had become someone on his own right at twenty-five. People recognised him as the Skulking Fox, as Baekhyun Byun— the only remaining Byun scavenger in the Last City.

And it was then that he decided he was good enough for Kris and for the feelings he had carried within him for a long time. In equal ground, he thought to himself, as he invited Kris to have drinks with him in the Seven Stars.

“Are you even legal yet?” Kris had joked at the beginning of the night, smile gummy and happy, affectionate. So tender that Baekhyun grew hopeful.

“I’ve been legal for the past six years, Kris Wu,” Baekhyun reminded the man drily. “Keep up, Guardian.”

“I’m too old to keep up with you, Baekhyun Byun. Let’s start with that,” Kris retorted, taking a long swig of his drink.

It had been a nice night. Even when Seungri and his posse of unsavoury Guardians walked into the Seven Stars, and Baekhyun scrunched up his nose in disgust at the sight of the man who had caused his grandparents’ death so long ago. It was only a small consolation that everyone seemed to be just as put off by Seungri as Baekhyun was. Seungri, the despicable man he was, whenever he noticed Baekhyun, was terribly friendly— pushy. Almost as he knew Baekhyun would eventually cave, even if he was uncertain to what.

As if sensing Baekhyun’s growing discomfort at the sight of the disgraced Guardian, Kris had suggested they went outside for some air, sentencing them both for the second time in their lives.

“You know,” Kris commented, maybe to just make Baekhyun focus on him again, or out of genuine curiosity. “It’s been ten years, since we’ve known each other.”

“Yeah!” Baekhyun agreed easily, his heart beginning to hammer inside his chest as he moved a bit closer to Kris. “Crazy how time flies, huh?”

“You were just a little kid, then,” Kris mused, chuckling. He looked so attractive under the light of the lamp post. “So small. Even then, I wanted to protect you.”

“I’m not a kid anymore, though,” Baekhyun told Kris, as he boldly placed a hand on Kris’s cheek, almost caressing it. Kris wasn’t alarmed by the movement, and seemingly welcomed it. “You know that, right?”

“I do.” Kris answered quietly.

Baekhyun hardly ever found himself without something to say. At that moment, however, words failed him, even if they were on the tip of his tongue. And so, he took action instead.

Kris didn’t reject his advances, as Baekhyun stood up on the tip of his toes to be able to reach Kris’s lips, snaking his arms under the Hunter’s own to keep his balance. In fact, the man wrapped an arm around Baekhyun’s waist, and took his other hand to be placed at the scavenger’s nape, kissing back.

It was sweet, and Baekhyun was elated, for a moment or two. But then, Kris pulled away, and pressed Baekhyun’s head onto his chest as he scratched his nape. Baekhyun breathed him in, but the knot in his throat had already formed.

“We can’t, Baekhyunnie,” Kris sounded terribly fond and terribly pained at the same time, as he pressed a kiss to Baekhyun’s temple. “You know we can’t.”

And Baekhyun had felt the tears prickling at his eyes instantly.

“We _can_ , we could, we should,” He retorted stubbornly, even if he already knew it was a lost fight. He gripped onto Kris tighter. “We’d be happy, Yifan.”

He had even used the name Kris had once revealed to him, in a whisper as they camped in Sao’s rough and cold terrain. He had hoped that would convince Kris. Remind him how close they were— how much Baekhyun knew of him. But Kris only sighed heavily, as if Baekhyun had put the burden of the whole world over his shoulders.

“For how long?” Kris questioned. Baekhyun was quick to answer:

“My whole life,” The boy sentenced. “I’ll love you my whole life, if you let me.”

Kris pulled him back by his hair, albeit it was gentle and sweet. The Hunter was rough around the edges, but he was genuinely taken with Baekhyun— Baekhyun had always known this. He had dived because of this. But—

“You’re so young, Baekhyun, you have no idea.” Kris finally replied, not smiling at Baekhyun, just looking extremely sad. “I’ve lived your life twenty times. I’ve already seen you change so much in so little time. I know— this is—”

Baekhyun closed his eyes.

“—Just a crush.”

Violently, he pushed Kris away from him. He snarled at the shocked Hunter, who was surprised at the show of strength.

“How dare you?” Baekhyun had exclaimed, furious and heartbroken. “You are a fucking coward. This isn’t just a crush. I love you, Yifan! I dare you to fucking look me in the eye and say you don’t love me back.”

Kris hadn’t said anything— he had only looked torn. Now, Baekhyun contemplated the possibility that Kris had been only a moment away from saying it back, from caving into Baekhyun’s desires. But Baekhyun, impatient and already wounded, hadn’t allowed him to say anything at all.

“Stay away from me, Guardian!” He called with finality. It was anticlimactic, how things ended before they even began, as Baekhyun cried into his pillow that night until sunrise. Only a couple days later, word came from the Reef of the demise of the Awoken Queen and the Prince, caused by terrible creatures that weren’t quite the Hive. It was almost the perfect time, the Taken War, to be self-destructive and hide away.

He went to Phobos. And maybe that was _the_ true beginning of the end, because Baekhyun spent too long watching the imprisoned Cabal become Taken, the possessed. A powerful Darkblade he never named did the ceremonies, ingraining themselves into Baekhyun’s mind despite the distance, though after a while, Baekhyun became convinced the Knight knew Baekhyun watched.

He spent too long thinking. His feelings for Kris would subside, like the Guardian so predicted. He would still refuse to talk to him, because he was prideful and stubborn before anything else.

With his grandmother and mother as the sole occupants of the family mausoleum, Baekbeom gone to build a life in the EDZ, Kris messily cut away, and Taeyeon moving on as well, Baekhyun came to realise just how lonely he was— even if he had friends, scattered across the Last City as they were. It was only him, the Skulking Fox, in his tiny red ship, and the music chip he had held onto for ten years and told anyone who asked it was his grandparents’ collection.

Just like that, it was just Baekhyun. And life moved on.

_ACCESS: RESTRICTED_

_DECRYPTION KEY: 73XK5V2PG1$BBH-659_

_REP #: 103-TKN-LAS_

_AGENT(S): BBH-659_

_SUBJ: you’ll never guess who’s back in town_

_Taken. That’s who._

_“BBH-659, you dumb-dumb, the Taken never left!” you say. I say, fuck you, metaphorical voice. Last time I checked, they weren’t expanding since the War._

_Today, accompanied by two Guardians, we had to retrieve Burning Sun’s bodies from a former Fallen colony in Las Vegas, Old America. You may remember Burning Sun as a despicable collection of men. They followed a lead that promised lots of engrams; instead, they were killed for their trouble. Picked off, I’d even dare to say. It was quite deliberate. And their leader, Seungri, had been Taken._

_In fact, that whole Fallen colony was Taken. I’m not talking old Taken just making their way into Earth somehow; these were fresh Taken, guided by a Knight the size of a house. The Guardians’ Ghosts named it Abyssal Champion. Said it was a Darkblade. I’ve only seen a Darkblade in Phobos. Most terrifying experience of my life._

_It’s clear to see the Taken are under new orders. Is this Knight their leader? The Guardians couldn’t even dent its chitin. It’s made of our strongest Nightmares, agents._

_Food for thought._

_Anyway, I’m uploading the coordinates where we found him to this log. To the Guardian who ends up looking into this: happy hunting. Be careful. This isn’t your old-fashioned Eldritch-like Taken. Somehow, these are worse._

Lucas Wong was hard to ignore even when out of his usual Titan garb, tucked away in the most hidden of booths in the Seven Stars— he was too handsome for that. He exuded confidence and happiness to anyone who looked. Everyone looked, even when the man was attempting to make himself smaller or invisible somehow.

“What a dashing date I have tonight!” Baekhyun greeted playfully, winking at Lucas, who laughed. The scavenger too had abandoned his work clothes –read: his poncho— for something more casual, even going as far as styling his auburn hair into something that wasn’t a mess and out of his face. Hey, Lucas _was_ hot. “How’s the beer, Lucas?”

“Delicious, Baekhyun!” Lucas said as his own greeting, with a flourish of his hand to let Baekhyun take a seat opposite from him. “The kind of beer you should re-think your non-drinking policy for. Should I get you one?”

Baekhyun made a face of disgust and shook his head. “No, no. Just a soda is fine, seriously. I want to be able to get home later.”

“I could take you home,” Lucas smirked seductively at Baekhyun, who gawked for a second until Lucas’s smirk grew into a happy, mischievous grin. “I got you there, didn’t I! I’ve been learning from the best!”

“You stopped my heart for a second.” Baekhyun complained, gripping his chest for dramatic effect as he called on one of Hodong’s frames that served as waiters to order a soda. The black soda was his favourite. “I’m glad everything I’ve been teaching you hasn’t gone to waste. You’ll be a master of seduction in no time, Lucas.”

In the bar, there was a ruckus, as it was usual. Hodong was being held up by the impressive strength of Janghoon, apparently, delivering a missive.

“Attention, esteemed patrons of the Seven Stars!” Hodong was hollering, to make himself heard over the raucous noise of his ‘esteemed patrons’. “We’re a semi-respectable business here. Until now, we’ve only had three or four rules, barring any newly invented misdeeds of which we are yet to made aware. Unfortunately, we are forced to increase our rules by two!”

There was booing and whistling as Baekhyun’s soda arrived, and Lucas took out his datapad to show him a document. He turned it and slid it over to Baekhyun’s side of the table.

“I sniffed this from encrypted Reef datacoms,” Lucas explained, more serious now. “Don’t ask how. Just read it and tell me what you think.”

“Rule number four— or five!” Hodong yelled as Baekhyun read, scanning the words quickly, sobering at the mentions of ‘visitors’ coming through Crota’s gates, that were neither Hive nor Taken. Hydrogen atoms. Then nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, water, organic molecules. “Olu Alderdice is heretofore _banned_ from our establishment!”

More booing and whistling, but it was accompanied by some cheering, opposing the resistance. Olu Alderdice was a controversial figure. Baekhyun attempted to imagine a pellet of thick black tar coming into existence, and then, the gate vomiting this tar, filled with increasingly complex molecules.

“Rule number five— or six, right? Who’s counting?” Hodong continued over the uncontrollable crowd of his bar. “Olu’s inventions are also forbidden. Anyone found to be in possession of— hold on, I have to read this—”

The visitors assumed geometric forms. Cubes and hexagons built from molecular crystal that shattered into fractal shapes due to internal flaws.

“So, anyone to be found in possession of devices such as, but not limited to!” Hodong read dramatically from a piece of paper probably written by his lanky bartender, Kyunghoon. “Spring-razor petticoats—”

Capsules and membranes filled with water or oil. Precursors of some kind.

“—electrified fascinators—”

And then, a living organism which died immediately. A spherical body, one metre radius, surfaced in thick hydrocarbon tar. It had deep, evenly spaced throats to perhaps, the autopsy suggested, serve as lung and stomach. It was almost plant-like.

“—sidearm tricksleeves—”

A tubular organism, surviving for ninety seconds, wriggling through the gate’s chamber. Two metres. It had the energy to sustain itself, but it depleted quickly, and this form died as well.

“—or arsenic lipstick will be introduced to our bouncer. Who is a Titan. A big one. You can see Janghoon right here!”

Probes and instruments dispatched to the other side did not return. Annihilation was immediate. There was something on the other side, attempting to learn the rules of their world from its very basics.

Baekhyun finally looked up to Lucas, attempting not to look too serious nor too scared at what he had read. Lucas had grown more sombre in the meantime as well, reminiscing on the contents of the log.

“What’s the job?” Baekhyun asked almost reluctantly, as he handed Lucas his datapad back. Lucas was grinning once more, then.

“That’s what I like about you, Byun,” Lucas remarked as praise. “I can see the curiosity eating you up, devouring you even, but you stick to business. That’s why you’re the best scavenger in this whole damn City. But don’t worry— curiosity will kill me, too. And the boss.”

The boss. Sungwoo.

“What is living in those gates?” Lucas poised the question. “That’s genuinely all that we wanna know. What creature is sending their creations into our world, so unprepared to face it? How fast will it learn?”

“So, a scouting mission,” Baekhyun summarised. “If I happened to find one of those creatures— should I bring one?”

Lucas shook his head. “Let’s keep it basic for now. Who’re the new tenants? As their neighbours, we deserve to know.”

Baekhyun nodded. “Alright. Well, you know how it is. I can leave tomorrow— half now, half when I come back. Is there anything else the boss requires specifically?”

“Only your utmost discretion, Skulking Fox,” Lucas said almost airily, smirking into his beer. He extended his right hand to shake it with Baekhyun’s own, and they sealed the deal with that. A death sentence is what it truly had been. “The glimmer will be on your account by midnight. Wanna hang out till then?”

They did hang out. Lucas was funny company. He relayed to Baekhyun the details of a secret weapon he had been drawing in his head, told Baekhyun how boring the rules in the Crucible could be, how he needed something more exciting. He complained about how it made no sense Seungri was still allowed at the Seven Stars after what had happened with those women, and that Hodong must be certainly getting paid for his silence. Baekhyun agreed wholeheartedly. He spoke of his friends, of his Ghost, of a family of elephants he had seen somewhere in Old Africa.

At midnight, the glimmer made its way into Baekhyun’s account. They said their goodbyes and scheduled their next meeting for Baekhyun’s return.

Station A-113 had been built during the Golden Age, orbiting Ceres, but its purpose had not survived the Collapse. During the Reef Wars, Ceres had been destroyed, and the station had been named Cocytus by the Awoken that kept it guarded. From what little Baekhyun had managed to gather before the Taken War, within Cocytus, there were keyholes that led to other dimensions. After the Taken War, it was almost too highly publicised by the Vanguard and its circles how one Guardian named Chanyeol Park used the gates to enter Crota’s throne world and destroy him. Beyond that, Cocytus had remained empty.

Or not. Baekhyun honestly hadn’t known what to expect, and as he listened to music for company, flying in the Skulking Fox through empty space, he worried about this.

He was passing the Earth’s own Moon when his radar picked up— something. Baekhyun had highly sensitive radars in his ship, to be able to know if a place was safe to land or not. The scavenger, however, had passed close to the Hellmouth of Luna many times before without picking anything up. This time, the disturbance was clear. Too clear.

For a moment, he contemplated on what to do. He couldn’t make out anything in particular before the incessant beeping of the radar.

Baekhyun had made the wrong choice. Maybe ignoring it would have been better. Let Guardians figure it out when it was far too late. Instead, he had called into Jongok Bae’s, Warlock Vanguard and Leader of the Hidden, personal radio channel.

“ _Yes, Baekhyun?_ ” The woman had said, not interested nor uninterested on what he had to say. “ _To what do I owe the pleasure_?”

“Vanguard, I’m passing the Moon, and my ship’s picking up on a strange disturbance on its surface, near the Hellmouth,” Baekhyun informed the Warlock. “I can’t quite make out what it is… Is it some sort… Of structure?”

“ _Are you telling me, or asking me, Baekhyun_?” Jongok replied. Baekhyun rolled his eyes but kept his tone even.

“I’m telling you. I’m just uncertain,” The scavenger countered. Although he played nice with the Vanguard these days, he had never been able to quite forget what they had done to his father. Particularly, Jongok’s coldness unnerved him up to this day.

“ _I would ask you to check it out, then, my Hidden,_ ” Jongok commanded, in a way that didn’t seem a command but always was. “ _And report back to me._ ”

And Baekhyun— he had truly thought of saying no. But he hadn’t, in the end. He had done the opposite thing— he obliged. Turned off the radio. And directed the Skulking Fox down to the Moon’s atmosphere.

It became apparent almost too soon, what the disturbance was. There was a structure alright— a whole Hive fortress, in the middle of construction, on the uneven ground of the Moon. Baekhyun blanched at the sight. He turned on his radio again to try and contact Jongok immediately, but he only got static. He was on his own.

What had drawn him down? This was more than enough— he could see that clearly now. He didn’t have to land and get out of the Skulking Fox, loading the Ace of Spades, sneaking behind rocks as he approached the fortress –of a crimson colour, though undoubtedly Hive— slowly. Just reporting what the Hive were doing on the Moon should’ve been enough.

But when he came face to face with an Acolyte that snuck up on him, its chitin just as crimson as the fortress itself, and the Hive creature merely stared at him— maybe. Maybe that had to be a sign. Maybe that was the voice that told him it was already too late.

Curiosity and an unexplained attraction were what led Baekhyun forward, when he realised no Hive worker, big or small, would attack him. They hardly paid him any mind at all, in fact— Baekhyun would think of this moment when he snuck into a Pyramidion in Io only months later. Did these vessels of Darkness recognise him as one of their own?

He had gone into the fortress. Walked down what seemed endless stairs, as if guided by an unseen hand. It was too dark. Baekhyun thought he saw a shadow in almost every corner, whispers ringing in his ears, too low to be made out. It was, however, empty— devoid of any life.

But then, he had reached a chamber of open space. He could tell he was underground, and anything under the surface of the Moon was extremely dangerous, but he felt almost— at peace. There, in the abyss in front of him, laid a strange form. A pyramid.

Baekhyun couldn’t really remember what happened next— only sensations. A wonder like no other, and then unabashed terror and pain. A moment of weakness, of a sultry voice offering him a blade of change, to overcome all of his fragilities. The voice crooning over how they had chosen so well. The temptation to take the blade. And then, the trepidation to refuse it.

This was not a fortress. It was a keep, meant to house something monstrous.

He did remember running away, once more untouched by the Hive— if their arias of screams were anything to go by, it was almost as if they revered his presence. He had been chosen, after all, now he understood. Had he been chosen from the moment of his birth, or because he had walked into the keep at the right time? Had it been because of a moment somewhere in between?

Baekhyun would maybe never know the answers.

But as he jumped into the Skulking Fox, terrified, sick to his stomach, the neurite particles were practically buzzing out of his skin and Baekhyun sobbed.

He was being Taken. Slowly, the slowest he had ever seen. Is that why a phantom, crimson as the keep and the Hive that inhabited it, that sluggishly acquired the vague shape of Joon Byun, was climbing into the Skulking Fox with him? It was screaming, the whistling Baekhyun had heard that day in the Cosmodrome flooding his senses.

He was screaming, too. And it was through scared shouts that he managed, somehow, to contact Jongok once more, dark stars more reminiscent of microscopic black holes shooting out from his fingers like it was the Light from a Guardian.

“Jongok!” Baekhyun exclaimed as soon as the Warlock answered. “It’s bad. It’s so, so bad. It’s a keep! The Hive! The Hive are building a fortress, they’re trying— they’re—”

“ _—Baekhyun Byun_ ,” Jongok interrupted, almost boredly. “ _When I sent you to check the disturbance out, I had hoped for something that was a novelty._ ”

Baekhyun stopped. He was pulling the Skulking Fox back into the air, eyes always away from the keep. The phantom of his father put its hands over Baekhyun’s shoulders, and the man was too frozen to even pull away, feeling like a rabbit staring into the hawk’s eyes.

“Y-You knew?” He finally asked, voice weak and nearly not there. Jongok had the audacity to huff, impatient and annoyed with Baekhyun’s distress. Baekhyun had been willing to imagine that perhaps, she hadn’t sensed just how disturbed Baekhyun was. At the moment, he felt only anger bubble within him, along with the all-consuming terror.

“ _We’ve been closely monitoring the progress of their construction, ever since Crota was defeated,_ ” Jongok confirmed. “ _But we haven’t discovered the purpose of this Scarlet Keep just yet. Perhaps, you have an insight on that?_ ”

Baekhyun whimpered. “A pyramid.”

That managed to shut Jongok up in a way that Baekhyun had never achieved. He was leaving Luna already, and besides his father, in the all-too-tight space of the Skulking Fox, a new phantom was beginning to form, as Baekhyun’s fingers and feet began to darken into negative light. It was Grandma Jeonghie. Or something like her.

“ _Do not speak a word of what you’ve seen to **anyone,** Baekhyun Byun_.” Jongok ordered coldly— however, she was scared too. Baekhyun could tell. Or maybe the phantom of his father whispered it to him. “ _This is extremely important. You can cause the biggest crisis we have ever faced since the Collapse with this information._ ”

“I don’t get it,” Baekhyun pleaded. “Please, what does it mean? What does it—”

“— _Not now. We will speak when you return_.” Jongok stopped him. “ _Keep up with your… Business. I’ll be waiting for you._ ”

The line had been cut dead, then. Baekhyun screamed in frustration, in anger, in pain, in fear, as another phantom squeezed itself into the nook of the Skulking Fox. A child. Was it himself?

If he made it into Cocytus at last, it was because the phantoms guided his path with their whispers, with their lamentations, with their screams. He began calling them Nightmares, soon enough.

By the time Baekhyun stumbled into Station A-113, his whole body covered in stars and space and seething with Darkness, he was certain of only one thing— this is why the Taken said yes so quickly to the act of being possessed. The alternative, this constant torment, being followed and tempted and tortured by the Nightmares of his past was too overwhelming.

He could hardly think of what he had come to Cocytus for in the first place. He wasn’t certain how long it had been, either. Baekhyun felt the beckon, the unrelenting call to just give in, to allow the blade of change within him and overcome his weaknesses, that he had been chosen because he was special. However, the scavenger resisted, with all his might.

He didn’t want to be Taken. He didn’t want to die. He wanted to go back home.

He desperately prayed, mumbling out nonsensical words, for someone or something to save him from his fate, as he dragged his feet towards the strange gates – _the third_ , something told him— with scarlet Nightmares surrounding him and following him, the neurites contaminating the walls as they spread away from him and opening rifts.

But Baekhyun was alone. No one would save him.

He collapsed as he finally reached the gate. It was inactive— not a single indication of what Lucas’s report had said to be happening. There were no strange tar creatures. No portal. Not anything. No one was there.

As Baekhyun’s Nightmares hounded him, crimson shapes floating and hovering all around him, whispering and screaming all at once, he closed his eyes for a moment. There was no mistaking what he had to do. It was just a matter of how.

He eyed the Ace of Spades, idle in his hand. Pressed the trigger gently, experimentally, so it wouldn’t fire. It would hurt. It would burn him. He had made it that way. He had never thought he would have to use it on himself.

Then Baekhyun turned his tired eyes towards the gate in front of him. _Immediate annihilation_. The words looped in his crazed mind. Immediate annihilation was bound to be painless, right? Baekhyun couldn’t handle any more pain. There was no sorrow in death.

As he struggled to get up, his body almost completely consumed, he reckoned the worst thing that would happen is that the gate was as inactive as it looked. That he would cross it and would find himself on the other side— still in Cocytus. Still being slowly Taken. Then, the decision would be made for him, and Baekhyun would shoot himself.

It was the last spurt of energy which got him sprinting into the gate and jumping into it. To his horror, he could feel his body disintegrate, although it was a painless affair.

Or well. Maybe it was only painless in comparison to the pain he felt when his body came together again.

He was floating in water. It was peaceful, except for the fact that everything hurt. Never had he felt something similar, and never again would he feel something like that again.

Something was invading Baekhyun, pushing the Darkness away from his limbs to be restricted only in his heart. Whatever it was, it was also transforming Baekhyun, but the scavenger couldn’t tell how. He could only scream, and scream, and scream, until—

**Shush, child.**

**I have been watching.**

**I always watch.**

**I have never seen something like you.**

**You.**

**You have rejected the possession.**

Baekhyun couldn’t stop crying out. When he did, it was because the voice made him shut up— pressing his lips together, making him swallow the intense discomfort, changing him.

 **You are beyond saving.**

**What has gripped you has chosen you, and only its opposing force will free you.**

**It is an.**

**_Indolent._**

**Opposing force.**

Then what good was it?

 **The only good, they say.**

**I wish to help.**

**Because I am eager to see what will happen.**

**Because I have plans and you are of use to me.**

**I can give you control and restraint.**

**Power.**

**For a price.**

Will it stop this pain?

**Yes.**

**For now.**

What is the price?

**A body.**

A body?

**You will understand.**

**For now, breathe.**

In the next moment, the pain had finally stopped. Baekhyun felt— almost too well. When he looked down at his body, he was bewildered to find it free of any stars. However, Baekhyun could still feel something inside of him, calling out to him.

Now, he knew what it was. Back then, it hadn’t made any sense, and it had been quickly forgotten when he saw that the Skulking Fox was near him, crashed and irreparable. His heart broke with it, and he ran towards it, realising with horror that he was back on the Moon somehow— the Scarlet Keep not far from him.

There, among the wreckage of his ship, laid a black box, so black it seemed it absorbed all light around it.

Baekhyun wasn’t certain that what happened in Cocytus had happened at all. His only proof became the box, the Keep in the distance reminding him of what had infected him, and not much else. His radio was busted, and although Baekhyun thought he would be able to repair it, or at least boost the signal of his tracker beyond the atmosphere, the scavenger found himself unwilling to do so.

For two days, he refused to touch the box. Instead, he focused on surviving with what little provisions he found, and though night and day were no different in the Moon, he still counted the hours to keep himself sane. The Hive didn’t bother him, even though he could sometimes hear their screams and chants from somewhere under him.

On the third day, the whispers became too much. And he opened the cube.

The phantom of Joon Byun –the first one to torment Baekhyun— came forth. Baekhyun panicked at the sight, ready to burst into tears, but then— the vision changed. It was just a Thrall. Albeit still scary, Baekhyun relaxed. And got an idea.

It became apparent to him soon enough that he could change these Nightmares. They no longer tormented him, but he could torment others— the Hive so close by came to realise this quite swiftly as he chose them as his victims, luring them in with strange visions.

What would be able to counter the Darkness like this and not have an ounce of Light within it? Baekhyun pondered this on the fifth day. The conclusion came to him in the form of a voice in his head, everywhere and nowhere at once, using so much space it physically hurt Baekhyun to listen.

 **You have an inkling.**

**Follow it.**

**I am on my own.**

**I wish for my body.**

**Wield the Darkness, child.**

It wasn’t hard for Baekhyun to wield it, once he understood how. It meant channelling his anger, his resentment, his bitterness, his sadness, his pain, into this cube. A memory of a Darkblade in Phobos came forth to him with persistence, and on the sixth day, it became tangible as a Nightmare so strong, the Hive around them were drawn to its Darkness.

Baekhyun wondered what it could do. It showed him, Taking Acolytes and Thralls and Wizards the scavenger would dutifully kill, watching them swirl into stars and nothingness.

His Abyssal Champion, he thought almost fondly now, was a champion indeed, unyielding and terrible. As the voice continued to direct him in cryptic ways, a plan formulated in his head.

On the seventh day, Kris found him.

“What are you even doing here, Baekhyun?” The Hunter questioned, as he got down from his ship none the wiser, checking Baekhyun all over for wounds and finding none, staring wistfully at the wreckage of the Skulking Fox that Baekhyun hadn’t abandoned. “Why didn’t you call for help?”

“I couldn’t,” Baekhyun said simply. He was numb— numb to the cold of the Moon, to the hunger he felt, to the exhaustion of days of staring into nothing if not his own Nightmares and memories. Kris must’ve understood he wasn’t supposed to press. For once, the Hunter didn’t— he merely dragged Baekhyun and whatever could be salvaged from the crash site into his own Vanguard-issued craft, offering Baekhyun fresh water, fresh food, his old cot, so he could lie down.

It was the first time they had been civil in two years. Baekhyun thought for a moment that Kris would hug him, but maybe even that was inappropriate for him, he thought sourly. Once Baekhyun’s needs were taken care of, and his helmet was finally off as he munched on dry salted cookies, Kris kept staring back at him, until Baekhyun almost snarled, “What?”

“It’s just— your hair.” Kris answered, stilted and awkward. Like he had forgotten how to speak to Baekhyun at all. “It looks pretty. I like that colour. It suits you. What shader did you use?”

Baekhyun paused for a moment with a cookie in his mouth, and then grabbed his helmet quickly. He stared at his reflection in the almost mirror-like surface— reflective against the Sun. His hair was grey.

“Benevolence of the Nine.” He remarked, lying on his feet. There was a low hum in the back of his head.

When Lucas and he met once more in the Seven Stars, Lucas grinned sunnily at the morose scavenger, like there was nothing wrong in the world.

“You took your time to call me, didn’t you?” The Titan greeted as Baekhyun sat without any ceremony. His smile slowly fell as he realised the grey-haired man wasn’t in the mood. “Uhm. I like your hair.”

“Cut the crap, Wong,” Baekhyun snapped in a low voice, startling Lucas. “You came here for business, didn’t you?”

The brunet man hesitated. “Don’t you want to order something? You like that black soda, right—”

“—I don’t want to drink anything,” Baekhyun practically growled out. “I want to talk about what your boss sent me to find. Don’t you wanna know? Wasn’t curiosity killing you?”

“Olu Alderdice!” Hodong exclaimed at the bar, scandalised. “What are you doing here?! How did you get past Janghoon?! Didn’t you get the memo?! We banned you and your inventions a week and a half ago!”

Lucas watched Baekhyun for a moment, worried and intrigued all at once. He was troubled. However, the Titan locked his jaw and nodded, finally.

Baekhyun didn’t say a word, though. Instead, he grabbed onto the knife Lucas had carelessly left on the table. He began digging into the wood, crudely drawing three circles under Lucas’s watchful gaze. One, with two perpendicular lines. The other, with a triangle. The last, with a single line on its corner.

“Ah, well, it’s my bar, not Seungri’s!” Hodong yelled, angry and probably red in the face. “I don’t want you here, wretched woman! Go away, Olu!”

Olu, backed up by Seungri and his men, began hollering at the fat man, insulting his ridiculous cape. Hodong gasped, absolutely appalled.

“The Nine,” Lucas whispered with repulsion, meeting Baekhyun’s dark eyes. “They— they’ve been sending those visitors? How did you—”

“—Sungwoo and you owe me so much, you won’t ever have any idea of what this is like.” Baekhyun muttered spitefully. Lucas eyed his own knife in Baekhyun’s whitening fist warily. “You have no idea what your little mission has put me through. And now, I am in debt to _them_.”

He pointed to the circles etched forever into the table of the booth with the tip of the knife. Lucas was a smart man. Maybe, if he had offered Baekhyun more glimmer than what they had agreed on, the scavenger would have stabbed him.

“I’ll help you out with that debt,” Lucas promised, voice as soothing as it could be. “I’m sure the boss will agree, too, but even if he doesn’t, I’ll help you out.”

This appeased Baekhyun. The scavenger offered the knife back to Lucas. Suddenly, there was an altercation behind them, both turned to see how Hodong had Mr. Kim –one of Seungri’s goons— in a headlock, screaming at him, as Janghoon came from the entrance to drag Olu away, and Kyunghoon argued with Seungri over who was allowed and who wasn’t in the bar.

Seungri had that insufferable grin on his face. “I’m one of your most esteemed patrons! What will become of this bar without my _patronage_?”

A bully. Oh, how Baekhyun hated everything Seungri stood for. When Baekhyun turned to Lucas again, eyes shining with stars, the Titan smirked, understanding.

It was actually a couple months later that they found themselves in the Seven Stars again.

Lucas, in his usual booth, sighed heavily at the log he had in front of him, rubbing his temple, contemplating on what to do. Hidden poorly by his large body, and shining in spite of it all, there was a purple engram on the booth with him. On the next table over, playing cards with Guardian Heechul and Sugeun, Baekhyun sneaked a peek over to the Titan naturally at his sigh.

Baekhyun was known to be nosy. He was known to stir up trouble. Therefore, nobody questioned it when he loudly asked Lucas: “What’ve you got there, Wong?”

Lucas shushed Baekhyun, but the intentional damage was done. Heechul and Sugeun both looked over at that, and Sunghyun, one of Seungri’s men at the bar, nudged Seungri’s elbow to make him look over.

“Wow!” Heechul exclaimed in surprise, as he tended to do. Heechul was known for his big mouth. “A prime engram? Where did you even find one?”

“You know the rules, Lucas,” Sugeun reminded him. “You have a tip, you gotta share.”

It was the policy in the Seven Stars. It had been installed by Hodong to be able to maintain the peace and make sure nobody killed each other in the bar over loot. Lucas sighed once more, as if this was more burdensome than anything.

“If you must know, a scout sent it over,” Lucas answered, without bothering to lower his voice. Sunghyun and Junhyung had moved closer, inconspicuous to whom wasn’t looking. Baekhyun was looking closely. “It’s from Old America. Does Las Vegas ring a bell?”

Heechul, Sugeun, and Baekhyun made different sounds of recognition.

“There’s a pretty big Fallen colony over there, right?” Heechul mused. “House of Scar?”

“Ah, I thought House of Scar was done for a long time ago.” Sugeun added.

Lucas nodded. “It might as well be. Fallen are abandoning this colony in throes. They’re leaving behind stuff like this. I’d jump at it, but I don’t have time nor the fireteam to check it out, you know?”

“Why haven’t you decrypted it?” Sunghyun asked, speaking up at last with badly concealed interest. Lucas shrugged.

“I guess I don’t even want to see what I’m missing,” The Titan commiserated. Then, his eyes lit up and he half-smirked, nodding over to Seungri by the bar. “Do you want to?”

“Hand it over to Sunghyun, Wong,” Seungri called with authority. “We can handle it.”

Hook, line, and sinker. Lucas handed the bright purple engram to Sunghyun, who took it over to his boss almost immediately. Baekhyun mock slammed his hand of cards onto his table, gawking at Lucas.

“Oi, I thought we were friends, Lucas!” The scavenger protested, as if he had been truly upset. “Don’t I get priority?”

Sunghyun gave the engram to Junyoung— a Guardian with Cryptarch training and little scruple. The man worked expertly on the prime engram, turning it over in his hands.

“First come, first served, Baekhyun,” Lucas teased with a grin, winking at the man. “Besides, what fireteam would you even take?”

“Heechul could come with me!” Baekhyun quipped, and Heechul snorted, putting his cards down.

“I’m too old for stuff like that.” The Guardian said idly.

Junyoung and Jonghoon’s eyes lit up like glimmer when the engram gave way to a Hunter cloak, of blood orange and circles on the back. That was House of Scar, alright. They had been unheard of for a long time. This cloak itself would be a valuable collector’s item. Baekhyun whistled in appreciation and envy.

“We’re definitely going to check it out,” Seungri confirmed with his crew. Then, he turned that smug grin on Baekhyun, and the grey-haired man had to wonder if Seungri was truly that self-absorbed and didn’t realise how much Baekhyun despised him, or maybe the Guardian was aware and liked to toy with the man instead. “Why don’t you come with us, Baekhyun? That way you won’t miss any of the bounty.”

Baekhyun frowned thoughtfully, as if considering it. But then, he shook his head.

“I have to travel to see my nephew. It’s his birthday party.” The scavenger replied.

It wasn’t a lie. Baekhyun would just be a little late.

“But hey! Thanks for the offer, man,” Baekhyun thanked Seungri, and made a call towards one of Hodong’s frames. As the robot approached, he smiled at Seungri politely. “How about this? Your next round’s on me. Let’s celebrate your good luck!”

It was almost too easy.

Fabulous Las Vegas was indeed a bit fabulous— or at least, it had been. Picturesque and flashy. Baekhyun casually strolled through a street in the city, checking out a small billboard that had to have been there since the Golden Age. He examined the poster, fixating on it despite how bleached it was, reading out the names of the cast. Do Kyungsoo. Huh.

“You know, Baekhyun,” Lucas began, both impressed and wary as he eavesdropped on Burning Sun’s feed, from their spot in a place called Fremont Street. “Your fake Taken are really ruthless. I especially like that Knight.”

“They’re Nightmares,” Baekhyun corrected the man. “Not fake Taken. Call them by their true name.”

Lucas raised an eyebrow at Baekhyun, as he loaded his hand cannon. “Does it matter? They look the same to me.”

They looked the same to Burning Sun as well, it seemed. From what had they heard, one of their members had gone down right in the lobby, and the rest of them were running up the stairs in the infested building— the Nightmares wouldn’t stop coming, Baekhyun’s cube opened among engrams so serendipitously abandoned.

“I wonder if any of them will fall for it,” Lucas continued to make conversation. Baekhyun closed his eyes, playing with the Ace of Spades in his hand, cocking it and uncocking it. They had devised it so that Burning Sun would be turned against themselves. Greed would have it so.

“Seungri will,” Baekhyun told him, certain. “And it’s all that matters.”

Hours later, as Baekhyun ate birthday cake, a paper crown precariously over his head, Baekhyun received a private message from Lucas in the small screen of his watch.

 _Boss just confirmed to me they’ve received Burning Sun’s distress signal_ , the message read. _No survivors. No suspicion. Took the box back and left it on your trash bin._

“Your whole face just dropped,” Tiffany commented amongst a mouthful of cake. “What did you get?”

It was so quiet, in the European Dead Zone. Only two days later, it would become a refugee camp. But in that moment, with Tiffany and Taeyeon, Yeongja and Baekbeom, and RM as Baekhyun’s reluctant date, with an already asleep Taehyung in Baekbeom’s arms, sharing birthday cake and with ridiculous hand-crafted hats, in Baekbeom’s back porch, it was peaceful.

“I think Seungri’s dead,” Baekhyun answered quietly. _And I’m the one who killed him._

Baekbeom’s eye widened. “Really? And they say the devil looks after his own.”

RM scoffed and shrugged. “Well, good riddance. You seem awfully upset for something you’ve kinda wanted your whole life.”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun trailed off. He cleared his throat. “I think they’re gonna hire me for something to do with it. I don’t know.”

“You’d think the Vanguard would get the hint at one point that anything to do with Seungri is just rubbing your pain all over your faces,” Yeongja complained bitterly. “But they’re just so—”

“—Indolent.” Baekbeom and Baekhyun said at the time. They chuckled, complicit.

**You have done what you wanted.**

**Now it is my turn.**

In the morning, before even meeting with Sooman-52 and the two Guardians the man wanted him to take to Las Vegas with him, Baekhyun went to see Jongok. The Warlock had been trying to see him ever since he had been rescued from the Moon, but Baekhyun had avoided her almost too expertly— packing his schedule with bounties and fake bounties.

Jongok had an image to upkeep, and hadn't dragged Baekhyun in the night to speak. She had waited for him to come in his own time. She had insisted on meeting him in private, away from prying eyes— even her own Ghost’s.

“I can’t believe you took this long to come, Baekhyun Byun,” The Warlock remarked, disapproving. “You sounded so distressed that night, I thought you would be here straight away. Especially when it was so urgent.”

Baekhyun perked up at that. “So, you had noticed?”

Jongok paused, and stared at him, trying to gauge the meaning of the scavenger’s words. Baekhyun clarified himself: “You noticed I was distressed. I just want to make sure of that. You did know that.”

The Awoken woman hesitated, but then nodded.

“Yes,” Jongok confirmed. “I knew. I noticed. But our resources were stretched thin, and it was unwise to send a Guardian to be exposed to that position. Besides, I trusted your capacities.”

Baekhyun couldn’t even it in himself to snort in disbelief.

“Wow,” He mumbled. “You’re really a piece of work, aren’t you, Vanguard?”

Jongok’s lips flattened into a line.

“I’m not certain on what you mean, Baekhyun.”

“When you say it was unwise to send a Guardian to be exposed to that position,” Baekhyun changed the subject minutely. “What do you mean?”

Jongok’s eyes shone with how stupid she probably thought Baekhyun was in that moment. The way she tilted her head condescendingly to the side only drove the image home more. Baekhyun’s blood boiled, but he did his best to stay impassive.

“Surely you must know you encountered the Darkness, Baekhyun,” Jongok explained slowly, as if talking to a child. “That pyramid must be a fragment of it. A leftover from the Collapse. Exposing a Guardian to it would’ve been fatal.”

“Wasn’t it fatal for me?” Baekhyun questioned. Jongok gestured at the scavenger’s form.

“You’re here,” The Warlock retorted. “Aren’t you?”

“I am,” Baekhyun conceded. He paused before continuing, keeping his tone light. “Should I show you what I saw? I need a favour, though.”

It was sweet revenge for years of pent up rage, Baekhyun reckoned, as he watched Jongok slowly lose herself to just a tiny bit of what he had been exposed to. Maybe she was right— maybe Darkness was truly more fatal for Guardians who dwelled in the Light. Maybe she was just weak-willed, hidden behind a mask of condescension and stern ways. It certainly had seemed that way to Baekhyun, when he managed to convince the vulnerable woman, riddled with Nightmares, to turn off the Last City’s defence systems and she did so easily.

With Seungri gone from the picture, Jongok slowly turning mad before his eyes, and Sungwoo in the palm of his hand, Baekhyun had felt almost satisfied.

He hadn’t known what would happen. What would follow. He hadn’t bothered to ask the terrible voice of his saviour what it wanted the Last City so exposed for. He had never imagined the Red Legion, nor Dominus Ghaul, nor the loss of the Light completely. He had only seen his hatred, at last, going heeded by the Guardians who had scorned him so.

And that had been his undoing.

“Sorry I’m late,” He apologised to the Commander as soon as he saw him, in the Vanguard’s meeting room. He shook the old Exo’s hand with a polite smile and offered nods to the Titan and the Warlock that flanked Sooman-52. “I had other business to attend.”

“That's quite alright, Byun,” Sooman-52 had said. Then, he gestured to the Guardians. “Allow me to introduce you. These are Guardian Chen and Guardian D.O. Guardians, this is Baekhyun Byun, a collector.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Chen, the Warlock, greeted. D.O, who looked like a man of little words, nodded back as a salute.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Baekhyun agreed. “What’s the situation?”

_ACCESS: RESTRICTED_

_DECRYPTION KEY: 73XK5V2PG1$BBH-659_

_REP #: 001-EDZ-TER_

_AGENT(S): BBH-659_

_SUBJ: a beacon_ _of hope_

_I never thought this would be the outcome. I never thought this would happen. I never meant for this, all those times I told you all I thought Humanity’s survival was not in the Last City and with the Traveller._

_I feel guilty. Maybe it’s not warranted. Maybe it’s a meaningless sentiment._

_What’s done is done. And this is what I have done._

_I gathered all the Guardians I could find when I escaped the City and have brought them into the EDZ. The Kingslayers, the Slayer of Kell of Kells, heroes of the SIVA crisis, a Seer. The people here have set up beacons, so you can find us. Below, you’ll have the coordinates to this farm. Any of you and your friends are welcome here. We’ll be safe here._

_Not all is lost yet. While there is Light within you, people like me have a chance to right a wrong. You have a shot at righting my wrongs._

_So, take it, Guardians. Prove my whole life wrong. Save us._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a little (lol, 19k+ words little) look into Baekhyun's story, so now hopefully you understand how he became his worst enemy. I hope everything is clearer to you now. The next chapter will be quite a trip, for Baekhyun to finally make amends (at whatever price it may be).
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it and that you aren't disappointed in Baekhyun, and only come out more understanding of his behaviour in previous chapters uwu 
> 
> see you soon!


	14. a wish to move the hands of time

**xiii. a wish to move the hands of time**

Baekhyun had a hard time believing that this was becoming his present.

It was almost too quiet in the Cabal Lieutenant’s stolen ship as the scavenger flew it with an almost dissociated sort of fixation. The radio had been the first thing Baekhyun disconnected, as well as his own comm. Mongryong had been sighing every now and then but hadn’t actually said a peep. The triangular rift that Luhan’s dice had opened remained in its place, right behind Baekhyun’s seat, seething lowly, like most Vex portals and teleporters did.

Thinking of Vex teleporters broke Baekhyun’s concentration, as he thought back of the Guardians he had left behind. A groan of despair escaped him. What was he even doing? He let go of the craft’s controls to rub at his eyes, exhausted with himself.

“I need a fucking recap,” He muttered. Mongryong, by his side, finally perked up.

“Oh! I can definitely provide you with one, Captain! I have already written a two hundred thousand words report of the business week we have spent together— and it is a work in progress!” The not-quite-Ghost offered with a happy sense of pride. “Which part do you need to revisit?”

“Those are a lot of words, Mongryong,” Baekhyun commented, fighting back angry tears. At least talking to Mongryong was better than the silence he had submerged them in. A much more effective distraction. “How come you’ve written so much? In what time?”

“I have mastered the process of writing quickly after five hundred years on my own, Captain! There was nothing more to do than report, report, and report!” Another sigh, although by now, Mongryong had regained his cheerful disposition. “And it is a pleasure to report about you!”

Baekhyun managed a very small smile. He sniffled a little, sad, but finally turned to look at the not-quite-AI directly.

By now, they were nearing Venus. Thumos’s ship was quite fast— faster than anything Baekhyun had ridden before.

The scavenger had shut off all communications with the Guardians in the ground, but had purposely sent their Ghosts his tracker’s details, leaving it on— that way, they would be able to see that he wasn’t betraying them, and that he was indeed headed straight for the Sun and the Almighty. He, however, had neither the energy nor the bravery to explain his reasoning or motives further, or listen to their disappointment and anger.

Baekhyun would follow through with the plan, even if it costed him his life. If everything turned out exactly how they wanted, it wouldn’t. He would dismantle the Almighty’s weapon himself, so Chanyeol and Sehun and the others could head straight into the Last City and attack the Red Legion occupying it, and reach Dominus Ghaul once it was safe to do so. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too late to save the Traveller.

Inevitably, as Baekhyun thought of the Traveller, his thoughts strayed towards its predilect Guardian.

Sehun. The newly born Hunter. The seer who couldn’t understand his visions— or maybe just refused to. The Traveller’s Chosen. Who would’ve thought, when Baekhyun had rescued the boy in the Plaza, that they would’ve turned out to be such blatant opposites?

Well. Maybe the Light and the Darkness had thought about it. Both forces were, after all, in it for the longest of hauls— unlike anything they, in their limited human shapes, even as Guardians, could begin to comprehend. Maybe the meeting and confrontation of Sehun and Baekhyun had been decided upon a long time ago. And Baekhyun, forever the Skulking Fox, had to admit there was cunning and patience in the Darkness’s machinations.

Infecting Baekhyun had to be only the first step— or at least, the first step Baekhyun himself had perceived. He still hadn’t been able to figure out if it mattered whether it was _him_ or if it could’ve been anyone else. But in the end, he supposed it didn’t— he had been called into the Keep, drawn in, and hadn’t been able to resist.

Though the Darkness itself hadn’t forged Dominus Ghaul and his path towards the Traveller, it had certainly had to have been watching. Perhaps it hadn’t placed Sehun in the Plaza, nor it had placed Baekhyun in his Häkke Vimana to watch the loss of the Light, but it had rejoiced when they were finally together. And it had cackled with delight when Sehun received the Light once more. What had seemed like a random objective –to kill Sehun— fed in Baekhyun’s dreams and nightmares so adamantly, now wasn’t so random at all.

If the Traveller was kept caged, and no agent of Light survived it, if Sehun was _dead_ , and Dominus Ghaul succeeded— it would be the end of the Light itself. The cosmic war that had spawned every universe and in which Baekhyun was a mere pawn would finally be over. The Darkness would have won all of their games.

Not that it helped that Baekhyun now understood everything. He could still feel the Darkness curling around the edges of his mind, of his heart, of his soul, as if asking a silent question— how did Baekhyun plan to stop destiny itself? The voices of the Nine were still present, whispering about him, about their brother lost to madness, about the Light, protecting Baekhyun— but the Darkness wasn’t pushing for entrance. It was merely watching, curious and entertained.

The Darkness no longer had to whisper to guide Baekhyun’s steps into the shadows. Baekhyun followed them on his own accord. Had probably done so since the beginning. It had chosen well.

Had he even done the right thing, exchanging places with Sehun in this mission? Would this ensure the Hunter’s survival?

“I do not mean to interrupt your intense musings, Captain,” Mongryong effectively interrupted his train of thought. “But the portal is waiting of your decision!”

Ah. Yeah. The portal.

 _Just think of what you want from me, and I’ll do the rest_. Those had been Luhan’s words. So Baekhyun asked— he asked for a solution, for a definitive escape from the Darkness’s grasp, so he could do his part of retaking the Last City he had helped lose, and the trio of dice in his hand had come to life, opening up a portal right there in Thumos’s ship.

But where would it take him? Baekhyun was afraid to find out. He had refused to look at it since it had manifested into reality, yet the dice refused to close it, too.

“I don’t know if I trust the portal,” Baekhyun admitted to Mongryong begrudgingly. “It’s a Vex thing. What if it takes me somewhere I can’t get back from? What if I end up stuck like Kris? And for how long will I be gone? If I disappear and don’t make it to the Almighty, everything’s gonna go to shit, Mongryong.”

“Captain, may I remind you that Vex realms are out of time? We don’t even know if these will be simulations or realities!” Mongryong interjected cheerfully. “Nothing of what you fear may happen!”

Baekhyun remained unconvinced. Mongryong continued:

“May I offer a solution?” The little drone began kindly, if not a little condescending. He was a sassy AI. “I will stay here and maintain our course for the Almighty, I will keep in contact with you throughout your travelling, and when it’s time, I will pull you off and back into our reality!”

The scavenger frowned, uncertain. “Can you even do that?”

“Captain,” Mongryong said patiently, cheerfully, and somewhat offended— his range of emotion had grown quite a bit in their _business week_ together. “In my prime, I had fifty-five decks to maintain at all times! My remains have withstood the passage of time remarkably thanks to my efforts! I have observed how Intimidating Ghost Xiaotong worked with Guardian Luhan and offered the Kris Wu advice on how not to get trapped in a non-linear loop through Vex teleportation systems! It is a safe assumption to say that I know what I’m doing!”

Baekhyun watched the drone for a moment, eyebrows raised. Then, he moved his head to the side, and sighed.

“I didn’t mean to suggest you didn’t,” He apologised, running a hand through his grey hair. “I’m just… Scared. Okay? I’ll say it. I’m fucking terrified of the other side.”

“If you don’t go, Captain, chances are we _will_ reach the Almighty,” Mongryong mused, somehow still cheerful despite his serious words. “However, what will you do when we are there? My observations of the Taken we have encountered have concluded it is as if they are exiled from their own mind and bodies. You will be Taken, and this is the reality we do know. How will you be certain you do not unknowingly fulfil your mission of killing Guardian Sehun somehow? We must nip this in the bud while we still can.”

“Nipping this in the bud came much earlier,” Baekhyun chimed in tiredly. “Way before we even met. Now, we just have to hope we can weed out the worse of it and save the flowers.”

“Go through the portal, Captain Baekhyun, and we’ll see what we can do now to save the metaphorical flowers!” Mongryong countered, and he nudged Baekhyun’s shoulder in an attempt to get him out of his chair. “Go! I will handle things here!”

Baekhyun groaned. Then turned the seat to face the rift.

The portal awaited. The answers within it, too.

“Yay!” Mongryong cheered when the man got out of the seat with purpose, the Ace of Spades in one hand. “Go, Captain! Don’t forget to take Guardian Luhan’s dice! Let’s stay in touch!”

“Don’t leave me hanging, Mongryong, please.” Baekhyun begged.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Captain Baekhyun.”

Mongryong sounded sincere. He had also used Baekhyun’s name, which only added to his earnestness.

Baekhyun grabbed the dice from where they were suspended in mid-air with his free hand. The portal didn’t disappear nor falter. It only continued to hiss.

He took a deep breath. Thought of Chanyeol’s determined face to give him strength. Strangely enough, as Baekhyun took a blind step forward, it worked.

Vex portals were never pleasant.

The other side at least _seemed_ harmless.

The portal had let out Baekhyun into an alley and closed itself almost immediately once Baekhyun was out of it. He cried out and rushed to try and step back into the rift, but it rejected his advances and a moment later, it was gone. Baekhyun extended his hand with the dice and jiggled them urgently when they didn’t react.

“ _Captain_?” Mongryong called, making Baekhyun release a sigh of relief at the familiar voice. “ _Do you know where did you end up? The portal has closed on this end!_ ”

“I have no idea,” Baekhyun replied, turning around to be able to look past the alley. It gave way to what looked like a relatively quiet street, although a couple of people passed, and— was that a car? Baekhyun had never seen one in action. He had only seen the rusting, abandoned ones around Earth. They seemed to go pretty fast. “It closed on this end, too. I’m in some sort of… Town, maybe? Can you track me?”

“ _I can, Captain,_ ” Mongryong answered merrily. “ _But I have decided not to tell you where you are. I believe it will be much more fun that way!_ ”

“Fun? Fun for who?” Baekhyun questioned, pouting, and moving closer to the street.

“ _Me, of course!_ ”

“At least you’re honest.” Baekhyun remarked. Buildings, although not that tall, and somewhat rustic-looking, cluttered the place. Right in front of his line of view, on the other side of the street, there was a shop with a bright neon sign. An incomprehensible word, and then _Sport-Bar_. A sports bar? Was that a bar where they played sports inside?

It drew him in. As if that was where he was supposed to go.

“Could you at least give me some tips?” Baekhyun asked as he approached the sidewalk and stepped out into the street. He startled a middle-aged woman, who scanned him up and down, and made a face of horror before rushing away while Baekhyun merely stared. She was shouting something. “Oh, yeah, I’m drawing attention.”

“ _I would suggest you hide your gun, Captain!”_ Mongryong responded happily. “ _Where you are, they are frowned upon! Your fashion choices will also be questioned!_ ”

Baekhyun moved quickly back into the alley, to hide the Ace in a holster inside his poncho that was uncomfortable for him but had been designed especially for situations where he couldn’t _look_ like he was armed. When he was done, he stepped forward again, and grinned brightly at a passing couple, who merely glared suspiciously but didn’t seem particularly frightened.

“My fashion choices are always questioned,” Baekhyun watched a couple of cars pass by, and when the street looked safe, he crossed it towards the _Sport-Bar._ “So, what else should I need?”

“ _A complete understanding of Old German, Captain!_ ” Mongryong chirped. “ _I will help with this. Uploading universal translator from the Exodus Black to your functions as we speak!_ ”

Baekhyun wrinkled his nose. “Functions? I’m not a robot— Oh!” He shuddered, rubbing a spot right behind his ear with alarm. “Oh. That was definitely a function being uploaded. Uhm. What did you do to me?”

“ _I installed a control module in your body while you slept,_ ” Mongryong asserted joyfully. “ _Nothing you need to concern yourself about, Captain. It’s standard procedure for every member of the Exodus Black crew!_ ”

“We’re having a serious conversation about consent when I come back, Mongryong.”

But not now. Now, Baekhyun had to concentrate on making it through this— this sports bar.

No one was playing sports, thankfully. Inside, it was actually much like the Seven Stars the scavenger was accustomed to, except that instead of metallic finishes, this bar had wood almost everywhere. There weren’t a lot of people inside, but the few that were, were too focused on their own conversations or on a plasma television hung right over the bar.

Baekhyun watched with wonder at the somewhat blurry image of a healthy, gorgeous, unbroken Traveller on screen, which then cut to a man speaking in some sort of press conference. The words in the headline right under the image transformed into something Baekhyun could understand in real time— _ARES I MAKES CONTACT IN MARS WITH MOON X._

Oh. Well. This was interesting.

Moon X had been the name Humanity had given the Traveller before it was called the Traveller. From what Baekhyun remembered, the Traveller had terraformed moons in Jupiter, then Mercury, and then Venus before making its way towards Mars. People on Earth had been enthralled by this strange entity and what it did to planets, theories abounding. Ares I had been the expedition that finally managed to commune with the Traveller— that man on the screen. Baekhyun knew his legend. Commander Jacob Hardy.

So, was he somewhere in Old Germany, in the literal beginning of the Golden Age? What was he doing here?

He scanned the people in the bar, trying to find someone who stood out somehow. Right on the wooden bar itself, though, two men were giving him their backs, wearing matching jerseys with big numbers and their surnames— one read Kim, and the other read Lu.

No way. One syllable meant nothing.

Baekhyun walked over slowly, eyes stuck on the back of the heads of the two men. They were speaking a language Baekhyun could understand. Even so, if he hadn’t been able to, their voices would’ve been too recognisable.

Holy fuck.

“—think you’re being unreasonable?” Xiumin was asking, playful and amused. “It hasn’t actually harmed anyone.”

“It’s a huge moon that travels from celestial body to celestial body and _transforms_ them,” Luhan argued, grumpy, nursing a pint of beer. “Honestly, that you don’t think it’s alarming _at all_ worries me, Minseok.”

Oh shit. It was really them. As Baekhyun very cautiously –failing to be nonchalant or aloof in his shock— slid onto the stool at the end of the bar, only two seats away— shit, oh fuck, that was really _Xiumin_ , although clearly mortal, much less serious, black hair tossed inelegantly, too cute to be the ethereal Warlock Vanguard Baekhyun had known.

“If the people in Ares One aren’t alarmed, I don’t see why I should be, Han,” Xiumin— no, _Minseok_ , this was the Minseok Luhan spoke of so fondly, observed to his companion. Baekhyun sneaked a look towards Luhan, and while he still remained wild and gentle, his hair blond instead of dark, and he had a terribly bad moustache. They were both _so young_.

“What can I get you?” The bartender was suddenly right in Baekhyun’s space and the scavenger jumped, startled, garnering attention from both boys. He flushed and attempted to look normal— which was already a bust, because the bartender, this Han, and this Minseok were all staring at him and at his bright poncho.

“Uhm,” Shit, Baekhyun didn’t even drink in the future, what was good and cool in the Golden Age? What would totally pass? He hated the taste of beer. “Black soda… Drink?”

So much for being normal. The bartender stared him down, and though Baekhyun wasn’t looking at them, he knew he was being watched closely by the two other men as well.

“Sure,” The bartender finally decided to end his misery, and then, in a shocking twist of fate, prolonged it: “Coke or Pepsi?”

What?

“Coke, please.” Baekhyun decided to wing it. The torture, however, wasn’t over, and the bartender, a tall woman with blonde hair and striking blue eyes, seemed unimpressed with his efforts as she continued to question him.

“Original? Diet? Zero? Some specific flavour? We have cherry, vanilla—”

The portal had brought Baekhyun to hell, and hell was embarrassing himself in front of his childhood idol and the greatest Guardian of all time over a _drink_.

“Original,” Baekhyun latched onto the first word that come out of her mouth. “Please.”

At least that seemed to satisfy her. As soon as the bartender was gone, Baekhyun hid his face in his hands, ashamed of himself and trying to take this all in all at once, and Mongryong’s voice came through his comm just for him to listen.

“ _You have assimilated quite nicely, Captain!”_ Mongryong quipped sarcastically, and Baekhyun couldn’t tell the little light to shut the fuck up without looking even weirder. He could hear how Minseok and Han were sharing quiet giggles about him right next to him. Honestly, they were rude, too.

“You okay there, man?” Minseok reached out to Baekhyun, and okay, maybe they weren’t that rude, even if they both looked amused by him. “You look a bit rough.”

It occurred to Baekhyun only then that, besides his clashing lilac and red poncho paired with combats boots and thick combat gloves as well, he had indeed walked out of literal fighting into another reality and time. His hair had to be a mess, as usual. Was he grimy? He felt grimy. Sweaty. He had definitely cried a little on the way here. Not to mention his general feeling of being lost in a Vex portal system that lead to who knew where. Don’t forget the utter heartbreak. He was a disaster on his best days.

“I’ve had a… Bad day,” Baekhyun uttered at last, hesitantly. “In a bad week. From a bad month. Part of a terrible year.”

“And you’re just having an Original Coke to deal?” Han asked with a chuckle. “That’s brave. I’m Han and this is Minseok. What’s your name?”

They were so trusting. They probably thought Baekhyun was just quirky and upset. That he needed a friendly face and nothing more. They were so young, but their faces weren’t unlike the ones Baekhyun had come to know. It was strange to think neither Minseok nor Han would make it much further than this particular moment before they… Died.

“I’m Baekhyun,” The scavenger said, and Minseok’s eyes lit up as he grinned happily.

“Ah! You’re one of mine!” The boy who would become a Warlock exclaimed, offering Baekhyun a fist bump that the grey-haired man reciprocated reluctantly. “Which part of Korea are you from? I’m from Guri.”

Was Baekhyun a Korean name? He was uncertain, although he had once heard an historian say that most names in the Last City hailed from there or other parts of Old Asia. However, Baekhyun saw no point in lying. He had no idea about anything in Old Korea— only dilapidated cities that had once looked into the future. But he knew of the Last City’s history.

“I’m actually from Nepal,” Baekhyun said honestly, much to the surprise of both Han and Minseok, who shared a noise of shock and wonder. Mongryong whispered a word into Baekhyun’s ear, and Baekhyun repeated it: “Kathmandu.”

“Really!” Han answered with a small frown. “You changed so quickly between English and German and Korean, I would’ve never guessed that. Did you immigrate there?”

Baekhyun shook his head. “No. Born and raised.”

Mongryong’s universal translator was amazing. Golden Age tech had really been quite something, back in the day.

“That’s nuts,” Han commented in true awe. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a Korean person from Nepal. Well. I’m Chinese. No hard feelings, right?”

With no idea why there would be hard feelings at all in this moment, Baekhyun waved it off with an uncertain smile. “Of course not.”

“How did you wind up in Berlin?” It was Minseok who asked with curiosity. Baekhyun shrugged as the bartender came back with his drink, pouring it from a crystal bottle with a red label into a glass.

“I’m just passing through, I think,” The scavenger answered vaguely, and had a taste of the soda. Wow. It wasn’t all that different from his black soda back in the Last City— some things truly survived everything. “What about you, guys?”

“Well, we’re in a Physics Masters’ programme and met through there,” Han gestured to Minseok and himself, grinning at the Korean man with clear fondness before wrapping an arm around the other’s shoulders. “And we clicked really well. We have the same interests, like cats, and beer, and football! We joined an amateur league together and everything. Minnie’s my best friend and one day I’ll convince him to date me!”

He was so earnest in the way he spoke, cheeks flushed with the alcohol and the affection he felt. Han genuinely cared for Minseok— had done so even in another life. With the way Minseok smiled back at his friend, shy yet still warm, he knew the feeling was reciprocal.

Baekhyun’s heart hurt for them and their connection. Had they been drawn to each other as Guardians without knowing? Or had they remembered and searched for the other? What had they done with their memories? Had this been the reason why Luhan and Xiumin navigated death? To find these moments? Did either of them remember meeting him, or was this only a Vex simulation?

“You have a girlfriend, Lu-ge,” Minseok mocked, making Han squawk in indignation.

“Xiaotong totally accepts you in our relationship, you know?” Han seemed to be reminding Minseok, while Baekhyun choked on his drink and made them look with his persistent coughing. “Hey, Baekhyun, are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah—” Baekhyun somehow managed out, hitting his chest repeatedly. The first words out of his mouth, unfortunately, were: “Your girlfriend’s name is _Xiaotong_? Fuck, that’s messy.”

“Messy?” Han echoed with confusion, but the way he narrowed his eyes at Baekhyun reminded Baekhyun of the Luhan he knew. “What do you mean?”

“X-Xiao sounds a lot like Qiao,” Baekhyun stuttered out, and pointed back at the television to distract them. The headline had changed towards _ARES I CREW: WHO ARE THEY?_ and blessedly, a man with slanted eyes and a shaved head was being shown on the screen. Lieutenant Qiao. “This Traveller business. I can’t think of anything else.”

Minseok cocked his head to the side cutely. “Traveller? Commander Hardy called it that, too.”

“It does travel,” Han conceded, but he was no longer smiling. He looked distrustful, serious, as he watched the people on the television be paraded around— celebrated like heroes. “I know I’m right to be suspicious. What does it want?”

That was the question for the ages, truly.

“I don’t know,” Baekhyun admitted, more forlorn than he wished to sound. “And I don’t think anyone ever in history has known. I think the Speaker’s full of shit.”

Han and Minseok shared a look of confusion. Baekhyun thought of an excuse, taking a long sip from his soda to stall.

“My spiritual leader,” He explained succinctly once he figured it out. “They say they speak for the Traveller. But I don’t think it actually says anything at all. If it did, maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

Minseok nodded solemnly, as if he understood a word of what Baekhyun was on about. Cults about the Traveller had flourished when the entity had arrived into their solar system. Perhaps, Minseok thought Baekhyun was a member of one. Han merely stared at the scavenger, examining him more diligently.

“I think your relationship is beautiful,” Baekhyun suddenly said, and Minseok blushed while Han managed a smirk. “It will last you this life and the next. I’m really glad for you. But how does it help me?”

Another complicit glance was shared between the men. This stranger who had trouble ordering a Coke and had strange clothing, who spoke of rough days and cults, maybe he was more hassle than he was worth. Maybe they were regretting speaking to Baekhyun at all. But Baekhyun was here for a reason and he didn’t understand why.

“The power of friendship can help anyone,” Han joked drily. “But I think you’re more enlightened than either of us, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun snorted. “Enlightened. I think I’m more of a Darkness guy, though.”

Maybe, Luhan wasn’t that far off, though.

“Is that code for atheist?” Han asked. “I feel that that’s code for atheist. Are you having a faith crisis with all this Moon X thing?”

“Han!” Minseok exclaimed, and then lowered his voice to mutter: “I said we could have some beers after the match, not help someone through a faith crisis.”

“No!” Han stopped him, eyes wide towards Baekhyun. “Hey, listen, I totally get it! I’m having a faith crisis myself.”

“You don’t have a faith.” Minseok deadpanned, making Han nod vigorously.

“Exactly!” The brunet moved to the stool right next to Baekhyun then, followed reluctantly by Minseok. Han clanked his pint of beer with Baekhyun’s soda glass. “This Moon X shit has me thinking— China isn’t exactly the most religious country on Earth. I never cared for any of it. But maybe, I should have. You’re in some cult about this—”

“Lu Han,” Minseok intoned in warning. “I’m sorry, Baekhyun, he must be drunk already, he’s normally not this rude—”

“—What do they say about the Moon X?” Han questioned. “The Traveller. You say your Speaker is full of shit, and you look like you ran away, but what do they think of it all? Is it a Messiah type of thing or the end of the world?”

This sort of raving man was more like the Luhan Baekhyun had come to be familiar with. Somehow, he felt more comfortable around those wild, curious eyes, rather than the cheerful Han who played football and was in a Masters’ programme— whatever that was. This guy, he could actually help Baekhyun. And so, Baekhyun moved a bit closer.

“Where I’m from, they call it the Gardener sometimes,” The scavenger revealed. “Because it makes things grow. Makes things live out all of their possibilities. It will take Humanity to its pinnacle. Because it rewards new things.”

“Ah,” Han uttered with interest. “So, Messiah type of deal. Got it. But I’m assuming this thing has a mortal enemy?”

Baekhyun nodded slowly, quietly.

“How did you even reach that conclusion?” Minseok wondered, bewildered. “A moon can’t have mortal enemies.”

Han turned sharply towards Minseok. “A moon can’t transform other moons, either, but that thing is making it rain in Mars. And there’s always a mortal enemy. That’s how it works.” He turned to Baekhyun again with a smile. “Another thing Minseok and I have in common is a _passion_ for fantasy—”

“—You’re so embarrassing,” Minseok complained, and then turned his attention to Baekhyun, moving closer to the huddle Han had created with the scavenger. “Is the mortal enemy what worries you, Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun nodded again. “They call it the Winnower. To go with the same metaphor.”

Minseok hummed in agreement. “Not to be a killjoy, but if it’s like you say, things can’t grow without control, either. When that happens in the body, it’s called cancer. It’s balance. You need the opposite.”

Opposites. Yet not so different after all. Minseok said that a growth without control gave way to festering disease, but at the same time, the most abhorrent creatures Baekhyun had encountered all came from Darkness— the supposed nothing. Wasn’t it a part of _gardening_ to take care of the _winnowing_? Was it truly so different?

Baekhyun rubbed the edge of his glass with his finger in thought, humming.

“But I like what Baekhyun said,” Han interjected. “That— living out all of the branches of the tree of probabilities. Don’t you ever wonder about that?”

“If Professor Müller heard you right now, going off about multiverses, you’d be kicked out of the programme for being unscientific, Han,” Minseok rolled his eyes. “C’mon. We should go. I’m tired and I’m sure Baekhyun has places to be.”

Minseok and Han were also opposites. They balanced each other out, even in another life. Where Minseok seemed to be level-headed, Han was enthusiastic. Where Han distrusted, Minseok trusted. And yet, both were so smart, so unphased by Baekhyun’s strangeness, so willing to run with it.

“I definitely do,” Baekhyun agreed. “But where to, I have no idea. Honestly, I’m not extremely certain why I’m here for.”

Was it just to see them? Guardian Luhan and Guardian Xiumin, Han and Minseok, who were standing right in front of Baekhyun now. Minseok, who was grabbing a jacket and bickering with Han so he would wear it. Han, who whined but listened to Minseok, letting the smaller man put the jacket on for him. Luhan, whose curiosity and drive for knowledge would eventually take him too far. Xiumin, who would remain like an unwavering force to protect those who needed him. Both Warlocks, star-crossed and so different, fighting for such different reasons and—

“—It’s been real, Baekhyun,” Han said, saluting Baekhyun and then helping Minseok with his own jacket and scarf. “Let’s remember these moments together forever. To recap— Moon X is terrible, I should take up gardening, and hopefully you escaped your cult successfully.”

Minseok rolled his eyes even if Baekhyun snickered softly.

“I apologise on his behalf,” The man told Baekhyun. “I wish I could say he isn’t usually this irreverent, but he likes to get a rise out of people.”

“You’re the same way, sometimes,” Baekhyun observed nonchalantly. Minseok raised an inquiring eyebrow at him, but Baekhyun only smiled with naïveté. “You should go. Protect each other.”

“Uhm, sure,” Minseok nodded, as if that wasn’t a weird thing to say to a complete stranger, while Han spoke to the bartender, paying for their drinks. “You… too?”

“Give Luhan a chance, too,” Baekhyun added as an afterthought. “The guy would totally mellow out after at least one date.”

“I definitely would!” Han yelled, while Minseok flushed and made a face at Baekhyun.

“Yeah, maybe in another life.” Minseok mumbled and Baekhyun half-smirked at their now retreating backs. Han waved back to Baekhyun, as he once more wrapped an arm around Minseok’s shoulders as they left.

Baekhyun turned towards the television once more. Apparently, nothing else interesting had happened on this day, because they weren’t done with reporting about the Traveller. _WHAT DOES MOON X MEAN FOR HUMANITY_? The headline now read. The Traveller looked beautiful in the pictures they showed— nothing like the fragmented moon that hovered over the Last City and Baekhyun had grown up under.

It would mean everything. It was a shame Han and Minseok wouldn’t be able to appreciate it in this lifetime. It was a shame Baekhyun hadn’t been able to appreciate it in his own lifetime.

He lifted his glass to drink, but mumbled out to Mongryong: “What do you reckon was that encounter for?”

“ _True friendship survives all, Captain,_ ” Mongryong suggested happily. “ _Also— a deeper understanding on the nature of Light and Darkness. Perhaps, they are not so different paths to follow. Maybe Guardian Luhan just wanted you to see him young!_ ”

“That’s cute and all, but—” Baekhyun began and stopped himself when a portal, without warning, began opening right there in middle of the bar, and he shouted. He wasn’t the only one, of course, as the bartender and other patrons also screamed in panic. “—oh, cotton socks, couldn’t this be a little more conspicuous?!”

“ _I am not controlling the portals, Captain! You are!”_ Mongryong argued joyfully. “ _Cross it before you cause much more panic among these poor German people!_ ”

With much less hesitation than the first time, Baekhyun chugged the rest of his soda, slammed the glass down, and then rushed through the Vex rift.

It still was unpleasant.

Baekhyun stumbled on his way out, the portal almost closing down on him and grabbing onto his boot. He crashed into a chair, and the grey-haired man cursed as he steadied himself with a hand over a round table. When he looked up, he came face to face with a flabbergasted Lay, bent down in front of a microwave, which pinged right as their eyes met.

Neither of them said anything at first. Then, Lay mumbled something that sounded a lot like “that’s the craziest one yet,” and turned back to the microwave, opening it and taking out a— a bag? He didn’t look up to Baekhyun again, and Baekhyun quickly looked around. He was in a kitchen. It was the middle of the night. It was raining outside. The apartment was washed in a low red light that came from a neon sign outside.

Lay opened the bag over a bowl, and out came popped corn. Baekhyun gasped in surprise at the format and Lay looked up for a moment warily before focusing on his task again.

Which was… A strange reaction to a man just showing up in the middle of your kitchen, Baekhyun supposed. He wouldn’t know. He hadn’t ever been in a similar situation. His own kitchen was pretty lonely. No portals.

“Uhm, hi?” He tried, because truly, he was already here. Lay still looked pretty confused that Baekhyun had made any noise at all, and this time, he kept Baekhyun’s gaze.

“I just heard you.” Lay said as-matter-of-factly. Baekhyun squinted a little, but eventually nodded.

“I sure hope you did,” He quipped weakly. “Otherwise I’d have to resort to sign language, and what are the odds you know that?”

Lay blinked.

“Logic would tell me,” The man began slowly, “That you wouldn’t be able to do anything I can’t do. And I definitely don’t know sign language.”

Baekhyun frowned. “Who do you think I am?”

“An hallucination,” Lay said immediately, as if it was the obvious conclusion. “What else? I thought the sheep in the popcorn just now would be the biggest one. Turns out I was wrong.”

“I’m not an hallucination,” Baekhyun retorted. “I’m Baekhyun.”

“Nice to meet you, Baekhyun,” Lay greeted, grabbing the bowl in his hands and straightening up. “I’m Yixing. But an hallucination would definitely say they’re not an hallucination.”

Yixing moved away with his bowl of popcorn, abandoning the magical bag that had produced it behind. Baekhyun followed Yixing towards a small living room, with a television seemingly paused on something. Yixing sat on the couch, and Baekhyun had no better idea but to sit next to him.

Yixing gave him a look as he did, somewhat unsettled, but otherwise seemed to think that if he ignored Baekhyun enough, the scavenger would go away. Ha. Sweet child. Baekhyun wasn’t leaving until he got his answers. Or at least until a portal deemed he had gotten those answers and he remained confused as he crossed it once more.

“Why do you get hallucinations?” Baekhyun asked. Yixing frowned at him as he fiddled with a very simple, small silver remote, picking something on the screen.

“You’ve lasted way too long.” Yixing remarked, and he took in the details of Baekhyun, on how his body pressed against the sofa cushions so realistically, his frown deepening. He was starting to put it together. “It’s because I hit my head in the crash— doctor said they were rare, but it was something that could happen— ehm. Am I dying? Am I internally bleeding?”

“I don’t think you are, just yet, but maybe,” Baekhyun admitted sheepishly. “What if I told you I’m real?”

“I wouldn’t believe you.” Yixing answered immediately. Baekhyun chuckled a bit sadly.

“Yeah… You make your mind up about stuff, it’s hard to change it, huh, Yixing?” He mused, reminiscing towards his Lay— his own Yixing. His friend who had tried to kill Baekhyun only a couple of hours ago, because it was the right thing to do. “You’re pretty hard-headed.”

“I prefer the term resolute…” Yixing replied, trailing off. His eyes began to widen, and his skin began to pale, as he slowly came to realise Baekhyun was very much real. When the man left his bowl of popcorn by his side and moved a hand to be able to poke Baekhyun on the cheek, and while Baekhyun only blinked at him, Yixing jumped so fast out of the couch, he hit the bowl and popcorn went flying everywhere. “Holy shit!”

Baekhyun yelped at the corn that fell on him and then let out another shout when he realised Yixing was growing faint, and began to fall, eyes rolling to the back of his head. The scavenger managed to catch the other man in his arms and deposited him over the couch as gently as he could, even if popcorns were crushed under Yixing’s body.

“Oh my God,” Yixing was mumbling weakly, over and over again, as he came to while Baekhyun furiously fanned the man’s face with his hands. “Oh my God, you’re definitely real. What the fuck? I saw you come through— what did you even come through?”

“A portal, but that’s not important,” Baekhyun dismissed the question. “How hard did you hit your head?”

“Way harder than I thought, clearly,” Yixing muttered. “Oh my God.”

“You keep saying that,” Baekhyun managed to chuckle, albeit it was a bit nervous. Who was God? “Listen. Let’s just cut to the chase. I came here because we’re friends in the future. But you’re mad at me in the future, and I need to fix that to go back.”

“Time travelling happens in the future?!” Yixing exclaimed in shock, and how wide his eyes would’ve been hilarious if he hadn’t rubbed his temple almost immediately after, wincing in pain. “Oh, God. You know what— okay, fine. How mad am I?”

“Tried to kill me mad.”

“That’s a big mad,” The man remarked with a sigh. “What did you do?”

“Oh, you know,” Baekhyun stalled, before blurting out: “Accidentally helped an alien invasion be successful. They’re about to blow up our Sun.”

“Aliens are _real_?” Yixing repeated, groaning. “This is way too much information, man— I’m getting a headache, I can’t handle that. Get me some water, please.”

Baekhyun scrambled to get to the kitchen and opened almost every cabinet –leaving them that way— until he found a glass. Once he had the water, he opened the tab in the sink, glad that at least some things hadn’t changed. Why fix what wasn’t broken, right?

Anyway. Yixing. Water. Right now.

At least, Yixing had regained some colour when Baekhyun came back. He was busying himself with picking off popcorn from his cushions, and he even managed a dimpled smile to the Very Real stranger in his living room as he took the glass of water from him. That wasn’t very much different from his own Lay, either, Baekhyun mused— the Hunter rolled with the punches. If he had to kill his friend over treason, then so be it. If he had to welcome a time-travelling nut job looking for answers, then so be it as well.

“You know, I admire your attitude in life a lot,” Baekhyun began as he took a seat next to Yixing again, because he saw no point in beating around the bush— even if he wasn’t sure what the bush was. “I always have. You do what you have to do. You don’t let it get to you. You have this great ‘this too shall pass’ point of view.”

Yixing let him speak as he took big gulps of water. Baekhyun continued. “I wish I could do that. I wish I could be… Unaffected by stuff. Keep going in spite of my feelings.”

Yixing hummed. Once his glass was completely downed, he took to staring at it, examining it instead of looking too much at Baekhyun.

“Ah, yeah,” The man agreed, though he sounded a bit bitter. “I _do_ do that. But where did it get me? Talking to extremely elaborate hallucinations in the middle of the night. Or even worse, to time-travelling alien fighters who apparently sold me out.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was really trying to just keep going and do what I have to do. Go to work, let people have what they want…” Yixing muttered, eyes fixed on the glass he was turning in his hand. “But when everything starts feeling like it keeps falling into the same stupid pattern, because you keep doing the same thing over and over again, and everything’s as dull as carbon monoxide poisoning…”

He trailed off again. He licked his lips, like he wanted more water, but there was none. He nearly slammed the glass down on the coffee table. Finally, Yixing chuckled a bit darkly.

“…Then, you go, drink until you’re numb, go on a drug binge, and crash your car in a parking lot until you make yourself see shit as crazy as— you in my kitchen.”

Baekhyun sobered. Nodded slowly.

He had never imagined Yixing would be troubled enough to be reckless. The scavenger was reckless by nature and hadn’t ever contemplated such self-destructive behaviour until he had been caged like an animal by the Darkness. If anything, it was that need for freedom what drove him and made him happy. Lay, while amused by his antics, and unorthodox in most of his ways, was much more careful.

“In this future you say you come from, Baekhyun,” Yixing started again after a small yet heavy silence. “Do I want to kill you because I’m just super mad or because it’s what I’m supposed to do?”

It was a question filled with implications. If Baekhyun told this Yixing he had done so out of duty, the answer would soothe Baekhyun and yet disappoint this Yixing— because nothing had changed. If Baekhyun said the Hunter had done so out of anger, perhaps Yixing would feel better knowing he had finally listened to himself, but it would confront Baekhyun with how irreparable things between them were.

The scavenger sighed, long and tired.

“I’d _like_ to think it’s because you have to,” He finally whispered, dropping his head back onto the couch. How Yixing’s shoulders slumped told him it had been the wrong answer. “Because you’re the guy who gets dirty jobs like that done.”

He paused. Then added: “But I hurt you, real bad. I think I hurt you more than you’d like me to know.”

“Well,” Yixing fiddled with some of the popcorn that had stuck to his shirt, dejected. “I guess some things never change.”

Yixing didn’t want to be himself. The Lay Baekhyun had come to know was comfortable in his skin— flaws and all. He wondered what he could say, however, to make the man sitting with him feel better about his future. His bright, bright future— that was too many centuries away.

The scavenger suddenly straightened up in his spot. Yixing straightened up with him, watching him now intently.

“There’s this game you play a lot,” Baekhyun remarked. “I’m not supposed to know it, ‘cause it’s a sacred Guardian thing, but one time, you showed it to me. You guys call it the flower game, and you just arrange flowers on a grid board.”

“And what’s the point of it?”

Baekhyun shrugged, because he had no idea. He still explained the rules: “A living flower with less than two living neighbours dies. If it has two or three neighbours, it lives. If it has more than three neighbours, it’s starved, and it dies. But if it has three neighbours exactly, it’s reborn. You can only arrange the board at the beginning and then you just see what happens.”

Yixing squinted, looking forward at his still on screen. “That… Sounds vaguely familiar.”

“You told me that it helps you understand your duty. That patterns were inevitable once the grid was set. That the pattern would correct errant flowers, but it made things…” Baekhyun chuckled as he realised the choice of words. “…You said it made them as dull as carbon monoxide poisoning. Same words.”

Yixing shook his head, not quite understanding. “Where are you going with this, man?”

“I’m trying to comfort you and myself at the same time,” Baekhyun asserted. “You always said it was okay if the pattern was a little dull, because there were hidden rules to shake things up. _You_ were the secret rule. Because you made space for new possibilities all the time. Let things grow.”

The Light was the secret rule, in Yixing’s tale. The great growth and preservation of complexity, in unnecessarily complicated words. There was a second secret rule— the Darkness. The one who sought to punish those who cheated the game with the Light, Yixing had said. The one who corrected abhorrent mistakes of Light with its violence. But _this_ Yixing didn’t need to know that part.

“We’re errant flowers, you and I,” Baekhyun continued. The apartment seemed darker all of the sudden— more sinister. Yixing noticed, too, if the shuffling he did on his seat and how he looked around was any indication. “If this pattern continues, then—”

The scavenger found himself being interrupted by a new rift, opening up right there, in front of Yixing’s television. The man screamed at it, and Baekhyun got up swiftly.

“That’s my scary ride,” Baekhyun told Yixing, who only nodded feebly. “Uh. Just go on thinking this was all a dream. You should go to sleep and— cool it with the self-destructive behaviour.”

“I’ll try and pretend this never happened,” Yixing offered, running a hand through his hair as if a bit desperate. “But I can’t promise the second part. Errant flower and all.”

Baekhyun smiled despite himself and the pang in his heart, because Yixing smiled weakly at him.

“We’ll meet again, and I’ll make it up to you, Yixing,” He promised. “I swear.”

Yixing nodded. Even waved goodbye.

Baekhyun crossed the portal once more, and it still sucked.

Crossing this time at least didn’t result on him scaring someone but himself. Baekhyun crashed right into a bunch of clothes hanging in front of him. He could hear voices on the other side, but Baekhyun came to realise quickly that he was in some sort of fitting room. And, come to think of it, the clothes around him were all fake armour, torn garments, and combat boots of different sizes.

As the portal dissipated, Baekhyun practically vibrated.

He opened the door with a little more violence than he meant. On the other side, two women dressed in strange collared shirts were talking, and looked at him when he came out, but other than a bit of surprise, they didn’t seem to be shocked by his appearance.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were there,” One of the women began. She had dark skin and curly hair and turned down to look at a white board on the wall. Baekhyun turned to it too and took in the list of names with checks right by their names. “I’m sorry. I’m totally blanking on your face. Which one are you?”

“Eric Chung.” Baekhyun picked one of the names that didn’t have a check next to its name, and hoped it was acceptable. The two women nodded, and while the dark-skinned woman moved to check the name in question, the other, with striking pink hair, wrote something down in her notepad.

“Right, then, Eric,” The woman with pink hair began. “You’re kinda early. You nailed the scavenger look— though I don’t remember that poncho. It’s kinda bright for an extra. Whatever, if they tell you to take it off, just do it. Here’s your gun.”

She handed him over an all-black assault rifle, which surprised Baekhyun until he realised how light it was. Closer inspection showed him it was actually plastic.

“Be careful with that and remember to give it back at the end of the day,” The dark-skinned woman reminded him with a smile. “Have fun on set!”

Baekhyun grinned at both women, a boxy smile that had them both grinning back, one of them even visibly blushing. He knew he could be charming when he needed to be.

“Thanks!” He said and left the room before anyone could even question him.

The scavenger was met with a labyrinth of halls filled with different sorts of people, all working and hardly paying him any attention. Some people were even dressed similarly to him, though no one stood out as much as him, even if the lilac fabric of his poncho was dirtied with black Cabal blood, actual dirt, and soot. No one gave Baekhyun a second look anyway, and he finally found what he figured must be the ‘set’.

There was a large green screen, and some carefully crafted ruined buildings people were working on to create a setting not unlike the one in the EDZ. There were all sorts of contraptions around, a lot of people going around, and even a buffet of food. Baekhyun felt lost for a few moments, before he caught sight of a familiar head, reading something on something that looked a lot like a datapad.

Kyungsoo.

The Titan was dressed in a meticulously messy manner, to convey a gritty warrior type that couldn’t care less— however, not even a single strand of Kyungsoo’s black hair nor the dirt and fake wounds on his face looked like they hadn’t been thought through and purposefully placed. He was meant to be badass, but he only looked too soft, reading on the tablet in his lap, with round glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, a small smile on his heart-shaped lips.

“Still there, Mongryong?” Baekhyun mumbled, as he made his way towards Kyungsoo. The previous encounters had left Baekhyun with little reason to be embarrassed.

“ _Yes, Captain!_ ” Mongryong assured him through his comm. “ _We are passing Venus! What Guardian are you visiting now?_ ”

“Guardian D.O,” Baekhyun answered. “He used to be a movie star. I think I’m in a movie right now.”

“ _I have detected a possible connecting line between your encounters with Guardian Luhan, Guardian Xiumin, and Guardian Lay, Captain,_ ” Mongryong relayed happily. “ _Guardian D.O will be a perfect opportunity to verify my hypothesis!_ ”

“Going to talk to him right now,” Baekhyun muttered, as he slipped into the highchair right next to Kyungsoo’s. The man looked up, looked down again, and then looked up to Baekhyun once again with a small frown. Baekhyun grinned at Kyungsoo. “Hello!”

“Hey,” Kyungsoo greeted reluctantly. “That chair belongs to my co-star. I’m sorry.”

“These chairs have an owner?” Baekhyun asked, as if the concept was entirely foreign to him. It seemed weird to own a chair. He looked over its fabric back, and saw a name written. “Huh. They even have a name. Anyway, my name’s Baekhyun. I’m a scavenger. Huge fan.”

He offered Kyungsoo his hand, which Kyungsoo took very gingerly.

“Yeah?” The actor said, attempting an awkward smile. Baekhyun couldn’t tell if he was shy, or if maybe approaching movie stars in their workplace wasn’t that normal. It was probably the latter. “Let’s work well together, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun nodded with a smirk, sitting back on the highchair. He gestured to the strange datapad. “Whatcha reading?”

“Oh, uh,” Kyungsoo stuttered. He tried to wave it off. “It’s just a National Geographic article. It’s really nerdy, to be honest.”

“Tell me about it,” Baekhyun prompted. “You looked pretty into it. It’s the reason why I came over. It made me curious.”

Kyungsoo hesitated, and looked around, as if discreetly hoping that someone would come take Baekhyun away and save him. It made Baekhyun feel bad for him— and yet, he had no option but to stay. There was no other reason for him to be here, if it wasn’t Kyungsoo. However, the actor recovered, channelled his best polite smile, and surprisingly, answered Baekhyun: “The Cambrian Explosion.”

That meant absolutely nothing to Baekhyun. He was unable to stop himself from making a face. “The what?”

Kyungsoo didn’t let his polite expression falter. “The Cambrian Explosion. When organisms became complex. It’s just an essay about how these organisms were the first predators.”

Baekhyun nodded as if his knowledge of history went so far behind. The scavenger could handle post-Collapse history quite well, but this… Sounded way out of his league. However, there was something about what Kyungsoo said –the _first predator_ — that raised a red flag for the scavenger.

“Run it down for me, Kyungsoo Do. In very simple words, please, because I have no idea what the Cambrian Explosion is.”

Kyungsoo couldn’t hide his surprise and confusion at this. “Not that it hasn’t been lovely to meet you, Baekhyun, but I should probably go rehearse my lines a bit—”

“—Humour me on this, man,” Baekhyun pleaded, sitting up properly and turning on his best puppy eyes. He was sure he didn’t even have to pretend to be desperate. “I’m on a really tight schedule and I still have a lot of house calls to do. I can tell you want me gone and I promise I will be. Just— it’s important to me.”

Kyungsoo seemed conflicted. As if he couldn’t just tell Baekhyun to fuck off without consequence, and yet, still really wanted to. Baekhyun missed the Kyungsoo who could do as he pleased, and often did— at Baekhyun’s expense.

After what seemed hours and was only forty seconds at most, Kyungsoo finally released a heavy breath and conceded Baekhyun’s strange request.

“Okay. A run down in very simple words, you say? You got it,” The movie star began, with a little bit of snark under his tone which had Baekhyun smirking. “So, in the beginning, the sea was a mat of bacteria and the very first animals were adorable blobs of ooze. And the most difficult thing they did all day was gentle spams to move about. If they ever bumped into each other, they just oozed onwards. All they did was take carbon compounds from the seabed.”

Kyungsoo leaned forward with his outdated datapad.

“One of these things realised they could collect carbon compounds much faster if it stopped its oozing and instead ate its neighbour oozeballs,” The actor explained. “This guy is saying that that’s the first predator, and that it changed everything. Since now, the other little fellows needed to protect themselves, or to fight back, and survive, and that’s how complex life began on Earth.”

As Kyungsoo spoke, Baekhyun became fixated in a spot right behind the man’s head. Almost as if he was watching a cheap horror show, a still figure begun to take shape behind Kyungsoo, unnoticed or ignored by the people running around set. It was far, and it was blurry, but it was there.

Baekhyun was being watched. He knew that, but seeing it so potently there never stopped being jarring.

 _It was me_ , something whispered within Baekhyun. _Do you see? I caused your life. The one who Takes._

**do not listen**

**d o n o t l i s t e n**

**DO NOT LISTEN**

A groan escaped Baekhyun’s lips, head already beginning to pound. Kyungsoo’s eyes settled on him with curiosity. Baekhyun shook the feeling off with a tremble.

“Thanks for that, Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun said sincerely, even as Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow at him in some sort of affront. “You’ve given me something invaluable.”

“Is learning about the Cambrian Explosion invaluable to you?” Kyungsoo asked before he could stop himself. Baekhyun laughed but didn’t offer an answer, and then, he handed his prop assault rifle to Kyungsoo, who took it after a moment of hesitation.

“Give this to Eric Chung if you see him, okay?” He asked, and Kyungsoo looked down at the gun before his eyes widened with the realisation that Baekhyun had never belonged here in the first place. “I’ll see you around!”

Baekhyun power walked away from Kyungsoo and the figure behind him before he could even hear Kyungsoo call someone and ask for security. He wasn’t about to have a portal open right in the middle of this crowded place, and once he was far enough, he didn’t care about being suspicious— Baekhyun sprinted down those labyrinthic halls again.

“Mongryong!” He called urgently.

“ _Captain!_ ” Mongryong called back with excitement. “ _My hypothesis now has strong evidence going for it! I believe that the Darkness is sending you a message!_ ”

“I’m getting it loud and clear, believe me.” Baekhyun assured his not-quite-Ghost, a bit morose, as he slipped into what seemed to be a storage room. Thankfully, it was empty, and he locked the door behind himself.

Luhan’s doubts over Moon X. Minseok’s cancer metaphor. The flower game and its errant blossoms Yixing enjoyed. The patterns that broke the rules. The Cambrian Explosion that Kyungsoo had read about. The first predator. These were all stories with the common theme of the necessary death of those who strayed from their set existences. And if there was someone out there who cared so staunchly on to eliminate everything that wasn’t supposed to exist, it was the Darkness.

“Why, though? I thought the whole point of this was to escape the Darkness, not play right into its hands,” Baekhyun dug into his pocket for the dice, which still hadn’t come to life again to open a portal to escape. He jiggled them in his hand and grumbled when he got no reaction. “Why aren’t these working?!”

“ _Captain, didn’t I tell you that it was you who controlled the portals?_ ” Mongryong reminded him, entertained and cheerful as always. Baekhyun was about to argue that yes, Mongryong had said that, but that it clearly wasn’t the case, when something just clicked within his head.

Maybe he was in control. Maybe he always had been. The Darkness was speaking, yes, but was Baekhyun listening?

The dice in his hand lit up. A portal began opening up right in front of him, and this time, Baekhyun had a purpose. He thought of a danseur turned sentinel.

Crossing over was still displeasing, though.

In the dark, it was easier to hide.

Even if the portal glowed and seethed, no one seemed to notice, the new surroundings Baekhyun found himself in both bustling with activity and completely silent at the same time. People dressed in tight, colourful leotards were moving about, while others moved equipment and pieces of scenography away. There was music, violins and trumpets and drums, but it came from somewhere outside. The scavenger, hidden behind some boxes, recognised the setting more easily now.

He was backstage.

Baekhyun had been invited many times to the backstage of Ghost Community Theatre, to watch Kris and RouRou. Fortunately, the backstage in Salle Le Peletier didn’t seem too different, if perhaps way more intense. Jongin had to be somewhere near— perhaps, he was on the stage itself, for there was clearly a performance going on.

Pleased to find that he indeed had control of the dice and where they took him, Baekhyun was becoming more nervous nonetheless. While it was easier to hide in the dark for himself, it was also easier for… Other things. Every shadow seemed threatening like this, every silhouette hid something lugubrious— especially since, if Baekhyun focused, he could hear the frantic whispering in the back of his head, growing louder and more urgent. If the Nine were worried, then Baekhyun had even more ample reason to be.

The Darkness was clearly tired of waiting. It was impatient, much like its vessel was.

Baekhyun found a spot near one of the middle wings, surprisingly void of any performers or stagehands, that allowed him to peek onto the stage without bothering or alarming anyone. There were many dancers on it— they were all moving at the same, perfectly in sync, dressed practically the same to bring attention towards the man in the centre of it all.

Jongin.

The music was frantic, somewhat arabesque, as Jongin jumped and twirled with a precision and grace that took Baekhyun’s breath away. The expression of his face was one of longing and desperation, as he moved towards the main ballerina— a woman with a tight bun and a royal blue tutu, meeting Jongin’s eyes with wonder. Jongin kneeled down and lowered his head for a final move, and then it was the woman who went out to do her own solo dance. Jongin quickly moved out and away from the stage, right into the wing Baekhyun was in.

If Jongin was surprised by his presence, he only showed it by wrinkling his nose in distaste at Baekhyun’s outfit. The words that came out of Jongin’s mouth were smooth and elegant as his dancing, yet Baekhyun still understood them.

“What are you even wearing?” The ballerino whispered harshly, but when Baekhyun just shrugged, Jongin didn’t pry further. Baekhyun merely watched him, as the wing was suddenly invaded but two other people, retouching Jongin’s stage make up and giving him some water while Baekhyun stood there. Outside, the performance continued, and once heavy drums began to play, Jongin ran out once more, practically skipping, so light on his feet he was, until he reached the centre of the stage.

Jongin was a character. Whoever it was, he was princely, dignified, and intimidating— Jongin turned his body towards the wing, still in character, yet his eyes meeting Baekhyun’s. There was a question in them, but Baekhyun couldn’t answer, and Jongin was already on the move as the woman in the royal blue tutu twirled towards him and he twirled towards her.

They engaged in a dance which culminated with Jongin lifting the woman in his arms and over his head, and turning his whole body and hers, as they were surrounded by dancers who ran circles around them before clearing out.

Another man, dressed in silver tights contrasting with the rich crimson that covered Jongin, in something akin to an armour suit, stole the woman away, turning her in his arms bridal style. The rage in Jongin’s eyes was easily spotted even from far away.

“Did you know dancing required so much acting, Mongryong?” Baekhyun whispered, as he watched both men stalk off to different corners of the stage. Jongin came close to Baekhyun’s wing, and when their eyes met again, Jongin broke character for a millisecond in confusion at the presence of the scavenger, seemingly so fascinated. Then, he had turned away again.

“ _While I can hear you perfectly, Captain, I cannot see,_ ” Mongryong informed him kindly. “ _Therefore, I cannot make an informed assessment on how much acting percentage is required while dancing!_ ”

The music had acquired an ominous edge as both danseurs came closer, for a clear confrontation. They turned together artfully to the rhythm of the violins, and once more Jongin turned to take a sword from another dancer. The other man had done the same, and their swords met with a loud clash that was nonetheless exquisitely choreographed.

Another man, with a crown in their head, came to apparently set the rules for a duel between Jongin and the man in silver. Baekhyun, who had been focused on Jongin but was now stuck with watching his back, let his eyes wander to the other man, who was facing to Baekhyun’s wing.

What he saw made the scavenger pause and swallow drily, because the man in mock armour— of course. Of fucking course. It was his own face staring back at Baekhyun.

The man –Baekhyun— was smug yet unsmiling, and then, he turned away while Jongin turned towards Baekhyun, as the man with the crown between them interpreted some sort of speech without words. Jongin’s eyes met Baekhyun, and he frowned, once more breaking his character and regaining it within a second.

Had— was Jongin also seeing Baekhyun’s face on the other dancer? Was he recognising the scavenger and his doppelgänger?

“I think The Darkness is here and it’s showing itself to Kai.” Baekhyun muttered urgently to Mongryong.

“ _That’s a bad development, Captain!_ ” Mongryong remarked, though he didn’t sound particularly surprised.

The crowned man mocked a sword fight as he gestured to Jongin and the other Baekhyun with purpose. Both Jongin and the other Baekhyun handed their swords dramatically to a fourth and fifth man, who measured the blades to ensure that they were of the same size. Jongin and the man turned into Baekhyun lifted the swords, as if offering them as tribute to the sky, and the music began to dwell down as the orchestra prepared for another suite. Once more, Jongin had turned to Baekhyun’s wing, and once more their eyes met with confoundment even as Jongin kept acting.

Oh, yeah. Jongin had definitely caught on to his co-star danseur not being quite the same as he was used to. However, he was making the same mistake of Kai the Titan— pretend that nothing was wrong. The show had to go on. Quite literally.

No one else seemed to be unnerved or startled. Perhaps, this was a vision meant only for Jongin and for Baekhyun.

With a frantic turn of the orchestra, the duel began. With a snarl, the other Baekhyun lunged at Jongin, who didn’t falter to meet him as their swords clashed together multiple times. Perfectly precise, the dance was a tense battle, for apparently, the heart of the young woman in the blue tutu. Jongin managed to wound the other Baekhyun, who turned away for a moment to be consoled by this woman.

This was another battlefield of the Light and the Darkness. Baekhyun understood as much as the music grew ominous and frantic, the swish and clanks of blades becoming more intense until the other Baekhyun grabbed onto Jongin’s hands, pushed him backwards, and then struck him on the head with the sword. Baekhyun gasped in horror upon seeing Jongin’s pained face. That hadn’t been quite part of the choreography.

However, the show continued, undeterred. Jongin faltered, rolling with his pain, stumbling with grace as if this had all been planned— as if the Nightmare of Baekhyun hadn’t hit him with the intent to hurt. That much could be seen in the cruel smirk the man delivered as Jongin, with the menacing and foreboding music to accompany him, staggered through stage while the Nightmare watched.

Jongin stepped forwards once more, reaching out to the woman with a heart-breaking longing and pain. However, his pretend wound was too extensive, and he grasped his dark hair with fierceness as he fell onto the ground.

The other Baekhyun turned his body just slightly towards the wing where the scavenger of his same likeness was hidden.

_The gardener always fails. It always falls. I am the fall._

**d o n o t l i s t e n**

Jongin dragged himself towards the woman, who only watched in despair, not attempting to help him in any way. Jongin collapsed, finally, and a throe of danseurs rushed towards his body in a beautiful formation, lifting his body which was straight as a board, and took him away directly towards the last wing on Baekhyun’s side. Baekhyun watched as they carried Jongin, and then his eyes lingered on his Nightmare, standing tall and triumphant and proud in the middle of the stage with his sword, as the crowned man dramatically congratulated him.

His eyes never left Baekhyun.

“Death of Abderakhman complete!” Jongin celebrated behind Baekhyun, who turned. The man, breathing a bit heavily, was standing among some of the other dancers, receiving pats and high fives for a job well done. However, the danseur’s own eyes were also on Baekhyun, who felt trapped.

He felt even more cornered when Jongin immediately went towards him, recognising his face. The man kept a neutral expression with his co-workers, but his eyes screamed of his confusion and distress and fear.

It was not unlike the eyes of Kai when they had been in the crash of the Häkke Vimana. It made Baekhyun sick to his stomach.

This time, though, he wasn’t about to let Jongin get hurt in his search for answers.

Quick as lightning, Baekhyun drew out the Ace of Spades from its uncomfortably placed holster under the poncho, and pointed it straight at Jongin, who immediately raised his hands in surrender and terror. The people behind him even screamed, but Baekhyun was louder.

“Step away right now!” Baekhyun growled, somehow the performance on stage continuing, unperturbed. Jongin visibly swallowed and nodded, doing as told.

This time, there would be no time for strange, friendly conversations.

Baekhyun practically sprinted as soon as he was allowed, not caring who he had to point his gun at to be able to get away. Once more, he found himself in labyrinthic hallways, but these ones were dark— underground. The music from the orchestra echoed eerily, and Baekhyun could make out screams that could not be real.

“Mongryong?!” He called once more as soon as he was alone, still running.

“ _Abderakhman,_ ” Mongryong said then, out of nowhere. “ _Was the villain of a ballet named Raymonda. Abderakhman is a Saracen knight who falls in love with an already taken Raymonda and attempts to win her over. She keeps rejecting him, until he decides he must take her by force or not at all. Then her fiancée, Jean de Brienne, slays Abderakhman with his sword and gets married to Raymonda, to the approval and satisfaction of all._ ”

“It wants me to see the Light as the villain,” Baekhyun concluded as he came to a dead end and decided this was as good of a place as any to open up a portal. “As the loser in the fight.”

The scavenger willed forward a portal. His mind was cluttered with thoughts of Nightmares, of visions, of dreams, of terror, of darkness. He remembered the Scarlet Keep in the Moon. He tried to think of something else, lest the portal brought him back to his demise, but the rift opened for him and Baekhyun wasn’t willing to wait and see if it hadn’t done so.

Coming undone and together again hurt this time around.

Baekhyun was getting better at crossing. This time, he didn’t stumble into any furniture, nor tripped, even if he still had ended in a small room, dark and tight. It had a cot, a little desk, a little closet, and not much else. The lights were off, though there was a siren of some kind ringing through. As the portal dissipated once more, Baekhyun came to realise that the door was blocked haphazardly with a tiny metal nightstand and the chair to go with the desk. The grey-haired man turned, and where the nightstand was supposed to be, there was a figure huddled down with a rifle and wide, tearful eyes.

A boy. Tao.

“Tao.” Baekhyun uttered despite himself, and Tao whimpered, trying to make himself smaller.

“Please, please, please,” Tao begged brokenly. “Don’t kill me.”

Baekhyun’s heart broke. He shook his head. “I won’t.”

Tao still sobbed, even as Baekhyun slowly kneeled. He tried to approach the boy, but Tao only recoiled further.

“A-Are you one of them?” Tao asked, voice cracking. He was louder then: “Are you one of those things?!”

Baekhyun didn’t get the chance to reply. Tao was screaming again, calling for something.

“Firewall!” Tao exclaimed, still crying. “Firewall, is he one of the— the creatures?!”

A screen turned on, on the wall, bright blue and eerie in the dark. Words were typed, and then repeated aloud by a robotic voice.

ASSESSMENT//VISITOR\ASSESSED//INFECTED

AI-COM/FRWL//HE IS NOT ONE OF THEM. HE IS INFECTED AS WELL.

If anything, that didn’t seem to calm down Tao down. He buried his face in his hands, rifle digging into his torso so hard, Baekhyun was afraid he would accidentally shoot himself in the chest or stomach. Baekhyun watched the screen warily until the words disappeared, wondering how an AI knew about his infection.

“How?” The boy wondered, pained. “Did you come across it too?”

“Come across what?”

“The pyramid,” Tao said, sniffing, meeting Baekhyun’s eyes again. It was as if a strange man coming out of a portal was the least of his problems— and as Baekhyun’s stomach dropped with those two words, he understood why perfectly. “That… Pyramid. No one could hear its voice, but it _talks_.”

The pyramid in the Moon. Baekhyun realised with trepidation where he was— he had never heard of the first colony in Luna having contact with the pyramid he had encountered in the Scarlet Keep, but all the installations of K1 and First Light had been abandoned suddenly and all at once.

Tao— Zitao Huang had been a soldier. An astronaut. A colonist of the Moon.

“What does it say?” Baekhyun asked. Zitao— he had been through the ringer. His skin was unnaturally pale while his eyes were bloodshot with tears and lack of sleep, the dark bags under his eyes attesting to this fact as well. There was blood on his uniform. It wasn’t his. There was distant screaming under that blasted, continuous siren. The boy shook his head.

“We thought it was maybe trying to reach out to something,” He confessed. “Another Traveller, maybe. But it just whispered in our ears while we watched it. Made us dream. Made us see things. Do things. Firewall, it tried to warn us so many times…”

Another sob. Baekhyun wanted to hug Zitao yet didn’t feel brave enough to. Not when he saw himself reflected in the colonist. Their torture had been the same— but Zitao’s own had probably been drawn out until there was nothing left.

“And now, they’re here,” Zitao continued, whimpering once again. “T-Those— those phantoms. They’ve picked us off one by one. I think I’m t-the only one l-left.”

His voice had cracked again in the last words. Baekhyun could picture the phantoms Zitao spoke of so easily. Scarlet, blurry, screaming— unyielding.

They were unyielding here, too. Something was scratching at Zitao’s door, picking off at the metal. Zitao screamed in terror. Baekhyun took a step back, and pointed the Ace at the door, hands shaking, as if it would make a difference.

AI-COM/FRWL//VISITOR. ESCAPE.

“I-I can’t leave him like this,” Baekhyun countered, unsure to who he was talking to at all. Zitao only curled up even more, as if he knew it was inevitable.

AI-COM/FRWL//ESCAPE.

AI-COM/FRWL//ESCAPE.

AI-COM/FRWL//ESCAPE.

THREAT ASSESSMENT\ASSESSED//RESULT//QUOTA EXCEEDED.

DAMAGE ASSESSMENT//SITE 3\BARRICADE HOLDING.

AI-COM/FRWL//ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE. ESCAPE.

AI-COM/FRWL//SURVIVAL IMPOSSIBLE.

DAMAGE ASSESSMENT//SITE 3\BARRICADE BREACHED.

“Stop! Stop!” Zitao pleaded to the AI, but it didn’t listen. Its siren was piercing, and Baekhyun wasn’t sure on where to go. Whatever was at the door wasn’t scratching it any longer— it was banging, so harshly, the metal would give any moment now. The screaming came from the phantoms, from the K1 crew, from Zitao, from the AI, from Baekhyun—

A portal began to open for Baekhyun. His eyes widened as he watched it, and he turned back to look at Zitao once it was fully formed. He couldn’t leave him to die here. He couldn’t.

But if he didn’t—

“—Wait!” Zitao shouted, catching on to what Baekhyun was doing. He got up so quickly, he got whiplash and stumbled. “Don’t leave me! Take me with you! I’ll do whatever you need me to!”

And Baekhyun— Baekhyun minutely nodded.

“It hurts to cross, just do it quickly,” Baekhyun directed him. Zitao nodded rapidly, understanding. “I don’t know what’s waiting in the other side, so just wait for me, don’t do anything, don’t interact with anyone, okay?”

“Okay.” Zitao agreed. He then moved forward into the portal— however, the portal rejected him, not allowing the astronaut to go through. Baekhyun and he shared a look of despair.

This was it.

“I can’t stay with you,” Baekhyun said with only a thread of voice. Zitao began sobbing immediately and pulled on Baekhyun’s poncho. “Please. Trust me. You’ll be okay— you’ll be okay. The pain will be over soon.”

“Don’t leave me alone! Please!” Zitao begged. “Please! Stay with me! Help me!”

Baekhyun couldn’t.

The chaos was deafening, and he pushed Zitao away against his will. Baekhyun made it through the portal quickly, and he could hear Zitao screaming in panic as his only escape route closed down on him.

Crossing hurt, but this one perhaps broke Baekhyun.

The portal practically expelled him outside, as if it was angry with Baekhyun for attempting to disrupt the timeline it had set to show the scavenger. Baekhyun didn’t care, and as he crashed into the wall, he only let out a choked sound of pain, tears stinging in his eyes.

It was so quiet here. There were no sirens. There was no Firewall screaming for him to escape. There was no Zitao crying. There was no Nightmare. There was only a low pop song.

He felt as if he couldn’t breathe. Tao— Tao didn’t deserve to end that way, alone and terrified, torn apart by Nightmares. But it had been exactly how Baekhyun had left him, in his impulsivity to just escape the place that had caused him so much suffering as well.

**it is not your fault**

**it is as it is meant to be**

“ _Captain,_ ” Mongryong was talking, concerned. “ _Captain, I heard it all. This was not on you. Guardian Tao would have not been able to cross either way. He is okay in the future! You have seen him—_ ”

Baekhyun felt like he couldn’t breathe. He tried to take shallow gulps, but it was as if nothing came down into his lungs. The knot in his throat was too tight, threatening to strangle him.

Not Tao. Out of everyone, not Tao. Sweet Tao. The boy who cared more about fashion than he cared about weapons. Who wanted Baekhyun to have a good time. Who wanted to cuddle. Who wanted stories at night. Not Tao. Not Tao. Not—

It had been Tao.

There was distant laughter. For a moment, Baekhyun thought it was the Darkness mocking him, and maybe, in the beginning, it was. However, it was a laughter Baekhyun had come to recognise. He shot up from where he had collapsed against this wall, and looked up, a single tear running down his cheek.

Laughing at something in a tiny datapad, there was Kris, with a towel around his neck, hair wet, wearing loose clothing he had probably used to exercise in the machines that surrounded them, and a bag swung over his shoulder. This apparent gym was well-lit, fact that soothed Baekhyun. The familiar presence of the Hunter Vanguard, even if the chances were that Kris wouldn’t recognise him and would in fact be weirded out by him were immense, also comforted the scavenger.

It was late. There was no one around but Kris and Baekhyun, and as the man came closer to Baekhyun, he seemed to realise this. Kris, hair black yet short, dropped his gummy smile as he spotted Baekhyun, exchanging it for a concerned frown.

“Oh,” The Hunter uttered. “Are you okay?”

How innocent. How trusting. Baekhyun sniffled despite himself.

“Do I look okay?” He asked, attempting a smile that only half-worked. Kris looked around, as if to find anyone else, and when he didn’t, he looked down at Baekhyun once again.

“Not really, no,” Kris admitted, a bit awkward. “What happened? Anything I can help with?”

How could he exchange his stern, overprotective Kris with this unguarded gym boy? Baekhyun was asking for a friend. He rubbed at his eyes, to keep more tears from coming.

Maybe he could just ask. He had been wanting to ask for this for the better part of two years, now. He had never dared— Baekhyun’s pride was too strong. Whenever he saw Kris, the only thing the man did was scold him. Perhaps, Baekhyun had only presumed Kris had known what he wanted.

“Honestly,” Baekhyun began shyly, “I-I could just really use a hug.”

It was stupid to ask. Baekhyun regretted immediately. This Kris wasn’t his Kris. This was Yifan— the boy Kris couldn’t remember, of which he had only had a library identification card and nothing more. Yifan wouldn’t understand, he would find him weird and nothing more. He was already weird. Fuck, how did Kris manage to make him feel so small even when they hadn’t even met yet? Baekhyun didn’t dare to glance up and see the expression on Yifan’s face.

But Kris could always surprise him at the last minute. He never did what Baekhyun expected him to, even if he complained that he was boring. Maybe that was a trait he shared with Yifan. Arms were wrapped around Baekhyun’s frame, around his shoulders, pulling him against Yifan’s chest, and Baekhyun didn’t even question it nor hesitate— he just wrapped his own arms around Yifan’s waist, buried his face on Yifan’s shoulder, and let out a few stray tears that wouldn’t just go away without a fight.

Yifan smelled woodsy. It was comforting. It was his big brother.

The hug was brief, as expected from two strangers. However, Yifan had managed not to be so uncomfortable about it, and when he pulled away, he offered Baekhyun another of his dorky, gummy smiles.

“Cheer up, bro,” Yifan said, pumping a closed fist to drive the message home. “You can do it, whatever it is.”

Why were the old ones the most open? Baekhyun was marvelled. But he laughed and nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll definitely try.” Baekhyun assured the other. Yifan didn’t linger. He left the scavenger on his own, continuing on his way. He was probably going home after a gym session. Like with all of the others, Baekhyun wondered— how would Yifan meet his demise? How much time did he have left?

He thought of Tao again. Even though tears threatened to fall down his eyes, Baekhyun refused to keep crying over spilled milk.

It wasn’t his fault. This was the Darkness’s doing. He had to push on.

The rift appeared once more in front of him, in the same spot where it had first materialised. Baekhyun walked into it once more.

This time, he didn’t mind the unpleasantness.

The portal took Baekhyun into a dark night, but this time, the lack of Light didn’t unsettle him. After all, the night was quite clear in its own way— there was a soft glow in the ambience, unnatural, not quite unlike an amplified moonlight. It was as if the scenery was submerged in an eternal twilight.

And Baekhyun only knew of one place which shone like this. The familiar church was a nostalgic sight for him, even if he had only seen it a few hours before.

He knew exactly who he would meet here.

“I’m home, Mongryong,” Baekhyun informed the not-quite-AI. “I think this is nearly over.”

“ _What are you planning, Captain? We have passed Venus completely, and we’re approaching Mercury._ ” Mongryong relayed.

“I have an idea, but I need to do some consultation, first,” Baekhyun replied. “I promise I’ll be done before we reach the Almighty. And if I’m not—”

“— _I will pull you out against your will, Captain_!”

There was a soft light coming from inside the church in the middle of Trostland, probably from a campfire. This proved to be right, as Baekhyun peeked inside and saw a man standing guard by it, and immediately pointing his gun at Baekhyun. It was Jongdae— a thinner, paler, definitely cold version of Jongdae. Baekhyun raised his arms immediately in surrender, to signal he wasn’t a threat.

Jongdae didn’t look particularly convinced about this gesture, but he wasn’t saying anything— as if he was trying to not alert someone. Baekhyun quickly realised there was a small tent by the campfire. Someone was inside.

Jongdae began having a coughing fit. It wracked his whole body, making him tremble and lower his weapon as he bent down. Baekhyun didn’t attempt to touch him, even if his first instinct was to help. The sickly scavenger spat out blood onto the floor. Baekhyun’s heart hurt at the sight.

When Jongdae looked up again, he was defiant yet exhausted. Baekhyun didn’t lower his hands but offered Jongdae a warm smile.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” He whispered, so he wouldn’t disturb whoever was in the tent. Jongdae seemed to appreciate that, though he was still wary. “I just saw the fire and wanted to see who was around. Trostland has been abandoned for a long time.”

“Trostland,” Jongdae repeated after a small silence, quietly, voice throaty and scratchy, testing the word in his mouth. “Are you from… Around?”

“A couple hours away,” Baekhyun nodded. “I took refuge there, by some woods. There’s good game.”

“Sounds hard to believe,” Jongdae mused, between some coughs that fortunately didn’t turn into a bigger fit. He took a seat by the fire once more. “We haven’t… Really encountered anything.”

More coughing, though it was clear Jongdae was doing an effort not to make much noise. Baekhyun wondered if it mattered so much, when he heard the small cries of— that was a baby. A woman shushed the creature gently and began cooing. Baekhyun closed his eyes, wincing.

“If you’re this sick…” He began but didn’t dare to finish. It was too cruel of an insinuation. Jongdae, however, caught on to it and raised his eyebrows at Baekhyun.

“I stay away at all times,” Jongdae explained. “But I can’t leave them on their own, either. We’re following the blue flowers. They say that at the end of them… There’s a haven. We have nothing to lose, she and I.”

Jongdae had had a family. Jongdae was shivering in the cold. Jongdae was dying.

Baekhyun made two decisions in that second. He slipped out of his poncho, first, grabbing the Ace of Spades and immediately letting a shiver run down his spine. It was too cold out. He offered the warm piece of clothing to Jongdae, who at first looked down at it with distrust, but then took it.

“Wear that,” Baekhyun directed the other scavenger. “Wait here.”

Jongdae muttered a low ‘where else am I supposed to go’ while Baekhyun began searching around the church. There was not much, but it was only one thing that he needed. When he spotted a piece of Dusklight, he wasn’t scared to touch it. He dislodged a piece from the ground and went back towards Jongdae.

The scavenger of old flinched at the sight— as expected. The Shard of the Traveller had corrupted this land. Why wouldn’t it corrupt him as well?

“Get that away from me.” Jongdae growled, though he didn’t seem that threatening when he was so weak, and he looked so small in Baekhyun’s poncho.

“Just trust me on this one, okay?” Baekhyun asked kindly, as he went to squat right in front of Jongdae. “If not for you, do it for your family.”

That seemed to do the trick. Jongdae hesitated for a second, lips pursing, but Baekhyun knew he was convinced. He nodded in approval of whatever it was that Baekhyun had planned. Baekhyun bit his lip, looking at the Dusklight in his hand, trying to figure out how to do this. He took off one glove to be able to dissolve it like powder into his other hand, and then urged Jongdae to inhale this powder, glittery and ethereal.

The effect was almost instant. Jongdae’s cheeks looked rosier, and his eyes glinted with the possibilities, his whole disposition changing. Even his voice was different, clearer, when he spoke again.

“What is that?”

“We call it Dusklight. The best you’ll get as medicine for a while,” Baekhyun asserted. “This whole place’s littered with pieces like this. Hoard them. Take them wherever you go. Make sure your family makes it.”

Jongdae nodded again, more vigorously. He still looked at Baekhyun with suspicion, but it was a different sort of suspicion. It was more like curiosity.

“Why are you helping me at all?” He asked. “And how did you know about this?”

Baekhyun stared at Jongdae for a moment, taking him in. He thought back on how Jongdae had sacrificed his remaining Light for him. He hoped he was okay, wherever he was. The grey-haired scavenger smiled, a bit cryptic.

“It’s the least I could do,” Baekhyun finally answered. “You were the one to show me.”

There was nothing more to be said. Jongdae stared at him quizzically, but Baekhyun had to go. And so, he got up, and merely left the church without much fanfare. Jongdae didn’t really stop him.

He went back to the original spot where the portal had manifested and was surprised to find it still open— but most likely, its destination had changed. He didn’t know for how long he had managed to prolong Jongdae’s life— Baekhyun knew it wouldn’t have a pretty ending. He just hoped it was enough for the faceless woman and the baby to make it to the pilgrimage roads of blue flowers.

Without his poncho and his heart a little bit lighter, Baekhyun crossed the portal.

On the other side, there was a young man waiting in a small room. The man predictably screamed and got up, as if to attack Baekhyun. Baekhyun didn’t think much of it and threw a high kick to the man’s face on instinct. The man was instantly knocked out and fell to the ground.

A moment of silence passed.

“Shit,” Baekhyun cursed under his breath. “Mongryong, I accidentally knocked someone out.”

“ _Even without knowing the details, I have big doubts about it having been an accident, Captain!_ ” Mongryong jested playfully. “ _Is your victim a Guardian?_ ”

Baekhyun examined the man’s face, cocking his head to the side. “Uhm, not any that I know of.”

“ _Then I suggest you find a hiding spot for them, Captain!_ ”

“Great idea,” Baekhyun commended, as he grabbed the man from the armpits to pull him up. He looked around, and truly, there was virtually nowhere to leave him— oh. There was a cabinet. Baekhyun dragged the man towards it, praying to whatever that was listening that the space was big enough for the rather small man.

Baekhyun opened the cabinet and cheered inwardly. Yes, it was— it was actually perfect. He shoved the limp body into the space as best as he could and closed the doors on it. Once he was done, he released a breath.

“ _Captain, who are you seeing this time around?_ ” Mongryong questioned joyfully. Baekhyun got up, dusted himself off, and took a seat on the same chair that the man had been occupying only minutes before.

“I told you I needed to do some consultation,” Baekhyun reminded Mongryong, making eye contact with a small security camera on the corner of the room. He waved at it, truly unable to care at this point. “And for what I’ve gathered, Guardians aren’t that different from themselves in their past lives, just a little more jaded. Which… Makes sense. Since they’re the same person.”

“ _Indeed, they are!_ ”

“That made me begin thinking,” Baekhyun continued as he made himself somewhat presentable by ways of a strange mirror-like window, fixing the rat nest he had for hair. “I need a strategy. Who is the best strategist I know?”

Neither Mongryong nor Baekhyun had time to answer the rhetorical question. The door to the room opened, and in came Suho, with his bright megawatt grin and in a very smart suit, a briefcase, and some files in his hand.

“Mr. Lee!” Suho greeted, offering Baekhyun his hand and shaking it with purpose. He took a seat on the other side of the table Baekhyun was at, and if he suspected Baekhyun due to his strange appearance, he didn’t let it show. “I’m Junmyeon Kim, your attorney. How are you? Have they treated you well?”

Baekhyun smiled. “Thank you, Mr. Kim. I’m good.”

“Great to hear,” Junmyeon said, as he left his briefcase on the table and opened the file folder in his hands. He was already looking down at it, examining it with attention. “I’m a little bit pressed for time, Mr. Lee, so our meeting will be a bit short— don’t worry, this won’t affect the quality of your defence. Let’s just start from the beginning, okay? Please know that I asked for them to turn off the cameras inside here, and everything we’ll discuss is strictly confidential.”

Baekhyun’s smile froze, because that meant talking to Junmyeon about— had the man in the cabinet committed a crime? Oh, boy. It could be anything. He really hoped Junmyeon didn’t ask—

“—Why don’t you tell me your side of the story?”

There it was. Yep. Baekhyun was fucked. At least, if there was anything Baekhyun was good at, it was at bullshitting his way out of things.

“I don’t really trust the system, Mr. Kim,” Baekhyun drawled. “I’ve been burnt too many times. You understand that, right?”

“This is your first offence, Mr. Lee.” Junmyeon deadpanned, not losing his smile for a second.

“So? Then you’d know that the information in your file is everything you need,” Baekhyun guessed with way more confidence than he had. “Look— I don’t wanna talk about what happened. I wanna talk about my chances.”

Junmyeon sighed. “Mr. Lee, the best way for me to help you is for you to talk to me about the assault charges. Your chances, if you must know, are looking pretty good. They’d look better with your cooperation.”

“What is your strategy to help me out here, Mr. Kim?” Baekhyun questioned, leaning forward in the table, over his crossed arms. “Just tell me that. Tell me your plan. Win me over. I promise I’ll tell you anything you want to know. I just wanna make sure I can trust my lawyer.”

Junmyeon seemed to be wagering his options. He looked down at his files, skimming through them rapidly. Finally, he closed the folder once more, and levelled Baekhyun with a little simper.

“It’s your lucky day, Mr. Lee,” Junmyeon acquiesced. “The man you punched at the bar is a frequent flier at the court. He has a very long rap sheet, and that includes assault, while you’ve never even hurt a fly. You were brought in by a rookie cop, who didn’t even think of taking your mugshot before throwing you in here— which isn’t enough to question the validity of the arrest, but it makes things more cumbersome. The district attorney in charge is quite soft and doesn’t really want to expose the victim to an experience that could easily turn against him— she always stops to offer peace. That’s her downfall.”

“Offer peace?” Baekhyun echoed. Junmyeon nodded.

“A plea deal,” The attorney clarified. “She wants to offer you a reduced sentence, which in this case could be merely probation or community service if we play our cards right, in exchange for your confession. All you gotta do is submit to that, so this will be just a blip in your own records, and we can all move on.”

“So, let me get this straight,” Baekhyun interrupted. “You’re telling me that if I say yes— if I accept this ‘offer of peace’, then, technically, I could get away with— punching this guy?”

Junmyeon hummed. “I wouldn’t say ‘get away with punching this guy’, nor let anyone hear me say so. But certainly, Mr. Lee, we’d be on the winning team. We wouldn’t even have to go to trial.”

“And you think this is the best course of action?” Baekhyun pressed further. Junmyeon didn’t nod, but he responded:

“I want what’s best for my clients, Mr. Lee,” Junmyeon remarked sincerely. “I truly value you and your freedom. It would mean everything to me if I could convince you of trusting me.”

Baekhyun blinked once, twice. There was a muffled groan coming from the cabinet behind Junmyeon, who frowned and then turned to look down at it. One of its doors was kicked open without much force.

That was Baekhyun’s cue to leave.

“Thanks for the legal advice, Mr. Kim,” He thanked Junmyeon, who was staring at Baekhyun in horror and realisation that he _wasn’t_ Mr. Lee as the scavenger got up and pointed his hand cannon at the lawyer, so he wouldn’t even try anything funny. “Mr. Lee’s clearly in great hands. You shouldn’t turn off cameras, though, I mean— who’s gonna believe you?”

Junmyeon raised his arms towards the height of his chest and turned in the chair to be able to see the real Mr. Lee groggily come out of the cabinet. Baekhyun prompted towards the man with his gun.

“Go on, help him out,” He urged with a little smirk. “You’re been really helpful. Who knew you’d be a lawyer! I guess you do need to be a great strategist for it.”

Junmyeon was immediately kneeling, helping Mr. Lee out. The second his eyes were off Baekhyun, the scavenger opened the door to the small room, finding himself in a long hall. With a single thought, a rift began opening at the end of it. Junmyeon was shouting for someone, for help, and Baekhyun turned quickly to fire a warning shot to the other end of the hall. Junmyeon was quickly shut up, but someone would definitely come now.

Baekhyun crossed the portal just in time.

This was almost it.

Like a cheap déjà vu, Baekhyun found himself in an alley for a second time. This one was considerably dirtier, filled with garbage and wet with recent rain. Much more prepared and resolute than ever before, Baekhyun scanned his surroundings as he concealed the Ace of Spades in his hip holster, trying to pinpoint a particular point of interest— somewhere he was drawn to.

He found such a place right in front of him, on the other side of a deserted street. It was some sort of convenience store, positioned almost just like the sports bar he had found Luhan and Xiumin in, boasting with a flickering neon sight that it was open 24/7. Through the crystal walls, he could see a familiar lumbering figure slumped over the counter— even if his hair was dark. His body grew warm with happiness at the mere sight.

“I’ll give in,” He whispered to no one in particular, but as usual, he knew someone was listening. While some voices despaired, one laughed with delight, curling around the edges of Baekhyun as if embracing him. “I’ll let you in. I’ll do what you want. Just— let me have this moment.”

 _A small price._ _A small reward._

Mongryong was blessedly silent. Good. Baekhyun needed the privacy and discretion. He needed to see Chanyeol one last time.

He walked into the convenience store, making a small bell ring and alert Chanyeol, the clerk, to his presence. Baekhyun drank in the sight— Chanyeol was tall, with short and straight black hair, awkward, wearing a green vest with a name tag that inexplicably read ‘Joel’. The man had that sad puppy look in his almond eyes that endeared Baekhyun so much, and when he spotted Baekhyun, those very same eyes widened for a moment before the tip of his prominent ears began turning red. Baekhyun grinned, unable to help himself or act cool.

“W-Welcome to _María’s_ ,” Chanyeol welcomed him, his voice raspy and deep. Oh, how Baekhyun adored that voice. “How can I help you?”

 _María’s_ seemed to be the sort of place that had a little bit of everything. There was even a tortoiseshell cat with long hair, sleeping soundly on the chair that was probably meant for Chanyeol to use, but had been surrendered to the pet. Soft guitar music came through some loudspeakers, a man crooning in Old Spanish.

Baekhyun stepped towards the counter, and leaned with his arms on it, watching somewhat enchanted how Chanyeol swallowed in apparent agitation.

“That’s a really nice cat.” Baekhyun complimented, pointing to the animal in question. Chanyeol looked down at it, and smiled tentatively at Baekhyun, nodding.

“Her name’s Conchita,” Chanyeol revealed. “Mrs. Caballero –my boss— named her.”

“Did she name you, too?” Baekhyun quipped, pointing at the name tag. Chanyeol looked down at it and flushed, embarrassed.

“Uh, y-yeah,” The man admitted, not very proud of the fact, it seemed. “She says my real name is too hard to pronounce for costumers. Says we face enough racism because of our looks, anyway.”

Chanyeol paused. Something was upsetting him— Baekhyun had stared at his face for long enough to be able to tell. Therefore, it didn’t shock Baekhyun when the next words rushed out of Chanyeol’s mouth almost against his will.

“I think changing my name at all is a bit racist, too, though,” He complained. “Though what would I know? Sorry.”

Baekhyun was unsure on what racism was. He still humoured Chanyeol, who already looked like he regretted opening his mouth at all. He prompted: “So, what is your actual name?”

“It’s Chanyeol,” The clerk answered. “She got Joel from Yeol. I guess they do sound a bit similar.”

“Ah,” Baekhyun said, and then, introduced himself: “My name’s Baekhyun.”

Chanyeol seemingly took it as a sign of familiarity. He perked up, albeit only slightly, relaxing just a tiny bit.

“Oh, yeah?” He laughed. “Baekhyun’s pretty. I bet they call you Bacon to tease you.”

Nobody did that to Baekhyun. However, he nodded with a smile, and at least, that got him another scratchy laugh from Chanyeol, making Baekhyun grin in response.

“You look like you’ve had a bad day, Chanyeol.” He commented, not meaning much by it other than to make conversation. Chanyeol did look rough, after all. It quickly proved to be the wrong thing to say, because Chanyeol’s face crumpled in a second. Baekhyun paled as Chanyeol began to cry, first quietly, before letting out a choked sound. The tall man moved to sit on the chair, making Conchita complain, but she quickly jumped out and ran away.

“I-I got diagnosed with cancer today,” Chanyeol declared in a broken voice. “Stage four. The doctor said I was better off living out the time I had as best as I could. I can’t afford the treatment, anyway.”

Baekhyun didn’t think about it. He jumped over the counter in one swift move, chucked his gloves off his hands, and placed a hand over Chanyeol’s shoulder blades. The clerk wasn’t bothered by it. If anything, somehow, it comforted him, and he began weeping more openly, shoulders shaking. He kept covering his face with one of his hands, while the other pinched the bridge of his nose, as if that would stop the tears.

“I’m sorry with burdening you with this, man,” Chanyeol said then, voice wet and upset. He sniffed, and he looked up, completely heartbroken. “I don’t— it’s just. How do I even tell my mum? My sister? She’s about to have a baby, oh God. I can’t spring this on her! ‘I’m about to die, Yura’. I can’t do it!”

The words had been already burnt into Baekhyun’s memory, and yet they were cold, spreading through his soul. This was cruel. So cruel, Baekhyun felt tears in his own eyes, as he mumbled out an unconvinced: “It’s okay. They’ll be there for you.”

“There’s just so many things I wanted to do before I— before this fucking happened!” Chanyeol shouted, kicking a carboard box away with force. Baekhyun didn’t move away, though, taking his hand to Chanyeol’s nape. “I wanted to dye my hair! I wanted to get a tattoo! I wanted to see Nirvana live! Not die of fucking cancer!”

Baekhyun impulsively hugged Chanyeol, much to the man’s surprise. However, he allowed himself to be hugged, and even pulled Baekhyun closer, until Baekhyun’s nose was practically buried in Chanyeol’s hair. Chanyeol smelled just like he did as a Titan— musky yet clean. If warmth had a scent, it was Chanyeol.

“You can do all of those things,” Baekhyun said with confidence. “You can get four, five tattoos— bleach your hair. Get any crazy colour you want. Follow Nirvana around. I know it seems like there’s no escape right now, and maybe there isn’t, but I promise you— your next life will be glorious. You’ll be majestic.”

Chanyeol chuckled darkly.

“You’re one of those believer types, huh? I wouldn’t have guessed,” The clerk said bitterly. “I’m sorry. I don’t believe in any of that. I’m sorry, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun ill-advisedly nuzzled Chanyeol’s hair. If the man was bothered by this, he didn’t show it. He let Baekhyun do as he pleased, maybe too distraught to protest. Maybe, Baekhyun hoped, it was because he liked it.

“I’m really not,” Baekhyun replied honestly. “But it’s okay if we aren’t. I know you’ll do everything you want, and I’m really sure of what I’m saying is true.”

“Maybe you haven’t noticed,” Chanyeol said with just a little bit of snark. “But I’m a good Asian boy. I’m not getting tattoos and dyeing my hair. I-I wanted to be a musician— I’m in med school instead. Barely making it through, too.”

Baekhyun wasn’t sure what Chanyeol meant. Still, he countered with a: “I’m a terrible Asian boy, then. I’m pretty sure grey’s not a natural hair colour at my age and I have tattoos. Plus, I’d never be a medic. If I can do it, you can too.”

Chanyeol laughed, though it was a sad sound. He then asked meekly, “You have tattoos? Can I see them?”

Some things never changed.

Baekhyun smiled fondly, and as he let go of Chanyeol, he pretended to think about it. But then, he nodded, and the beaming grin Baekhyun received from the other man was worth all of this pain.

“There’s one that might speak to you a lot in this moment,” Baekhyun mused, as he turned and squatted, so Chanyeol could look at his nape and the words disappearing under his armour. “Just pull down. It’s more flexible than it looks.”

Chanyeol gingerly reached for the collar of Baekhyun’s t-shirt, and indeed, the back plate lowered easily as Chanyeol pulled on it, so it would reveal the two simple words there. Baekhyun could hear the way Chanyeol’s breath hitched. They stayed like that in silence for a few moments.

“M-May I?” Chanyeol wondered. Baekhyun hummed and nodded his consent.

Chanyeol traced the words with his index finger, making Baekhyun tremble at the sensation. He apologised, and Baekhyun mumbled a small ‘it’s okay’. Chanyeol continued his tracing, as if he was trying to slowly write the letters himself. It felt nice, heat pooling at the bottom of Baekhyun’s stomach.

“Have courage. I-It’s really pretty,” Chanyeol admitted, dropping his hand, and Baekhyun turned once again in his heels to be able to meet him face-to-face. Chanyeol’s face was red, swollen with tears, but he had visibly calmed down. “Your hair is really pretty, too.”

Baekhyun smiled sweetly. Everything about him was pretty in Chanyeol's eyes. It felt like this was destiny, when the guitar in the loudspeakers turned into a familiar tune he would now always, unequivocally associate with Chanyeol.

“Listen to this,” Baekhyun told him. “What is this? Do you know?”

Chanyeol nodded, unsure. “Yeah. Álvaro Carrillo. Sabor a Mí. Mrs. Caballero loves it. We have a mixtape.”

Just in time, Baekhyun began singing along, cupping Chanyeol’s cheek as the man flushed and eyebrows raised in surprise.

“ _Pasarán más de mil años, muchos más,_ ” The scavenger crooned to his future lover, “ _Yo no sé si tenga amor la eternidad. Pero allá, tal como aquí, en la boca llevarás, sabor a mí._ ”

Baekhyun didn’t know what his face showed, but Chanyeol was staring at him with hooded eyes. It was his own turn to swallow nervously, flustered, when he reminded Chanyeol of something he would only hear again in a thousand years or more:

“More than a thousand years might pass, many more. I don’t know if eternity has love— but even there, just like here, in your mouth you will carry the taste of me. And that’s a promise, Chanyeollie.”

“Wow,” Chanyeol mumbled out, starstruck. “Where did you get so much confidence? Can I have some?”

Baekhyun laughed earnestly. He had half a mind to kiss Chanyeol, as a parting gift, but he had probably freaked out the vulnerable man enough. Even if Chanyeol was low-key into it.

“I need to go,” Baekhyun said, grabbing his gloves from the floor. He wasn’t losing them again. “And you need to call your mum.”

“It’s almost one AM on a Thursday,” Chanyeol retorted. “I can’t bother her.”

“You’ve got stage four cancer,” Baekhyun countered as he straightened up. “You definitely can. It might not be pretty. But you gotta.”

“Maybe Mrs. Caballero won’t mind if I use the landline,” Chanyeol said after a while. He looked like he wanted to ask Baekhyun something, and he finally went for it: “C-Can you stay, though? I could use the… Moral support.”

“Only for a little bit,” Baekhyun answered, uncomfortable with lying to Chanyeol and promise that he would. “I’m waiting for a call of my own.”

Chanyeol seemed satisfied with that. He got up, and walked towards the back of the store, while Baekhyun hoisted himself back to the other side of the counter. He was a dear, and he turned the sign on the door to ‘closed’ for the clerk. He went to peek at Chanyeol, then, watching him from his spot as Conchita made her way back into the now unoccupied chair.

Chanyeol was holding a strange rectangular device to his ear. It was connected with a chord that resembled a spring to another device, glued to the wall. He pressed some buttons on it, and he waited. As he did so, he turned his body towards Baekhyun, and they just gazed at each other during those painful moments before someone, on the other side, answered.

“Dad?” Chanyeol called in a language different from what they had spoken, though still understandable thanks to Mongryong’s module, sounding so small while Baekhyun offered him a thumbs up of encouragement. “Dad… It’s me, Chanyeol-ah. I’m sorry for calling so late. I need to speak with mum and you right now.”

He turned his body away from Baekhyun, seemingly pacing, and Baekhyun watched with amusement as Chanyeol tangled himself in the long chord of the device. He could hear him mumble words: ‘hospital’. ‘Doctor’. ‘Tests’. ‘Cancer’. ‘Bad’.

“ _We have reached Mercury, Captain,_ ” Mongryong announced, more solemn than usual. “ _Is it done?_ ”

“One final pit stop, Mongryong.” Baekhyun responded, as by now, the portals he controlled opened behind him in the middle of the bodega. Conchita hissed at it from her chair, hair standing on end. “I’ll be quick.”

“ _You have ten minutes, Captain! Then, we’ll be in the Almighty’s transmatting zone!_ ”

Baekhyun crossed, determined.

Old Los Angeles had a vibe to it that Baekhyun couldn’t quite place. There were palm trees and perfect green grass like Baekhyun had never seen before, and the houses were immense and extravagant, and the sun shone brightly on him. He basked on its light like a content cat, sitting on a bench, enjoying his last moments of peace as he waited for Sehun to arrive.

And Sehun, as always, didn’t disappoint.

The boy came in down the empty asphalt street in a bright red car that had no roof. His dark hair was styled to perfection, and he wore an equally bright floral shirt with a black graphic tee under it, and a golden chain on his neck. He was wearing dark tinted glasses as well, and he stopped the car right in front of Baekhyun, as if it was a totally normal affair to do so. He was listening to loud music. He looked as handsome as ever.

Seemingly bored with waiting –and for what, Baekhyun wasn’t sure— Sehun lolled his head in all directions as if it weighed a thousand tons. His glasses fell a little down the bridge of his nose, and their eyes met. Sehun froze for a moment, and then, he lowered the volume of his music quite a bit.

“Yo!” He yelled at Baekhyun, then waved at the general direction of the bench Baekhyun was sitting on. “You know that bus stop’s out of commission, right?”

Baekhyun let out a practiced soft sound of surprise.

“Really?” He asked in confusion, looking around as if lost. He was a bit lost. “Uh, what should I do?”

“Get to the next bus stop,” Sehun deadpanned and for a moment, Baekhyun thought he would lose him. He waved Baekhyun over with his hand. “Get in. I can drive you to it.”

“You’d do that?” Baekhyun wondered, but he was already getting up and walking over.

“Sure,” Sehun responded, pressing a button that made the door pop open. Baekhyun thought it was dumb, since the car had no roof and he could just jump over it, but he still opened the door and sat down like Sehun wanted him too. “It’s on my way, anyway. A little kindness never killed nobody.”

“Thank you, man,” Baekhyun said. He offered Sehun his hand. “I’m Baekhyun.”

“That’s cool,” Sehun answered in lieu of his name, but still shook Baekhyun’s hand. He finally began moving his car then, driving slowly, leisurely. “I hope you’re not in a hurry, Baekhyun. I drive to relax. You looked like you’re too warm in that armour. Coming from set or something?”

Baekhyun hummed. “Yeah.” He took a look around the car, taking in its pristine equally scarlet leather seats, the impeccable windshield, and how well-maintained it seemed. “You have a nice ride here.”

“Thanks,” Sehun replied with a small smirk. “It’s my pride and joy.”

“Where you off to?”

“I’m just driving around, blowing off some steam,” Sehun shrugged. “Like I said, it relaxes me. _Work’s_ been a little bit stressful these days.”

The way he had said ‘work’ made Baekhyun stop. The scavenger tried to remember what had Sehun shared about himself in his previous life. He had dropped out of school— maybe in Titan. He had said he was a hustler. Maybe he was involved in something illegal.

“Plus, I think it’s gonna rain,” Sehun commented when Baekhyun remained silent. “That cloud looks ominous.”

Baekhyun looked up to the sky. Indeed, far away from them, there was a large cloud— dark and lugubrious. There was something unnatural about it, though Sehun didn’t seem too worried.

The Darkness had travelled quite a bit before it had reached the Traveller, decimating loads of colonies on its way. Baekhyun wondered if Sehun was aware, or if people on Earth had been taken by surprise by the Darkness. It seemed more like the second option, if Sehun’s reaction was anything to go by.

“A storm’s definitely brewing,” Baekhyun remarked a bit sadly. Sehun hummed in agreement, making the car turn onto another street. “You should go home soon.”

“I will,” Sehun agreed. “I wanna take a nap before I have to go out later.”

The next bus stop wasn’t too far at all. Sehun slowed the car down until they came to a full halt right next to it, and he turned to Baekhyun, as if prompting him to get off. When Baekhyun didn’t really do much other than stare at Sehun, the boy raised an eyebrow at him.

“We’re here.” Sehun asserted.

“Yeah,” Baekhyun conceded. As always, he quick to the draw, he pulled out the Ace of Spades from its holster, and aimed directly at Sehun, who blanched and flinched and began shouting— ugh, Baekhyun thought. They were so close, there was no way Baekhyun wouldn’t get blood on him.

“What the fuck, man?!” Sehun was yelling, angrily but unable to hide his fear. He didn’t get out of the car, though, not even try to stumble out of it, and instead faced Baekhyun with defiance, and a handgun of his own that had been on the side of the car’s door. “Who the fuck sent you?! I told Johnny I would pay him tonight, can’t he fucking wait a few hours?!”

“Johnny didn’t send me,” Baekhyun explained calmly. “No one you know sent me, Sehun.”

“Get the fuck out of my car before I fucking kill you, Baekhyun.” Sehun snarled, cocking the gun, unrattled further by the mention of the name he had not given to Baekhyun. “We’re in broad daylight, in the middle of the street, what the fuck’s wrong with you—”

Baekhyun pulled the trigger. The shot was loud. Blood splattered towards him, just as he had feared it would, and he closed his eyes immediately after. He listened for Sehun’s body slumping against the steering wheel.

At least he had had the hindsight to turn off the Solar power in the Ace of Spades. He didn’t want to see Sehun’s body all burnt up, too. He didn’t want to see.

Eyes still closed, he blindly searched for the handle on the door that would allow him to get out of the car. Old Los Angeles was eerily silent. Baekhyun’s ears were still ringing from the shot. He managed to open the door, and he stepped out clumsily. Only then he opened his eyes.

He didn’t look back at the car.

There was peace for only a moment, as he gathered his wits.

“There you have it,” He finally exclaimed, angry and yet at the same time, satisfied. “There you have it, folks! He’s dead! Sehun’s dead! The Traveller’s Chosen is dead! And he’ll be back in five hundred years to fucking kick your ass!”

He took a moment. He was panting, adrenaline coursing through his veins. There was a rage growing inside of him, as well as something akin to delight— none of those emotions belonged to him.

He had bested it. Baekhyun had tricked the Darkness. It seemed like it was both upset and satisfied with his answer to its calls.

“You chose so well,” He taunted bitterly, tears stinging at his eyes. “You chose so fucking well, didn’t you, winnower?! Now, it’s my turn.”

**now, you save us**

Mongryong was pulling him out. They must’ve been there already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and so, baekhyun has won over the darkness's influence-- at a price. our little fox lives to see another day, and next chapter, we'll see a lot of action to save Humanity once and for all. 
> 
> I hope you, reader, liked this chapter and looking into the past lives of every Guardian. The messages from the Darkness were taken from my favourite Destiny lore book, Unveiling. Do you wanna know how much time I spent watching 3 minutes of Raymonda to write Jongin? 5 hours. I'm a slow writer.
> 
> let me know what you thought! I'm more nervous than usual with this chapter...


	15. i don't want to lose you to this

**xiv. i don’t want to lose you to this**

Hours before, Chanyeol had been in the Moon.

There was something about the Hellmouth— the infernal, grim, abyssal, and horrid shade of green bottomless pit of despair kept drawing him in. Chanyeol didn’t know _what_ it was.

Other than that, all that he knew was that whenever his thoughts strayed, they brought him here. When he closed his eyes, he envisioned himself here. And when he dreamt, he was racing his sparrow on the edge of the enormous trench, dangerously close to falling, peeking in, as if the Hellmouth was revealing its secrets in a whisper and he was just too far to listen properly.

Every time he would lean and lean until the sparrow almost fell in. Before that happened, he always woke up, alone in his large bed in his shared apartment in the Last City. No whispers. No Hellmouth. No Luna.

It had been this way since before Chanyeol even knew what the Moon held— almost as early as when Toben had risen him, mind blank of anything but a name engraved on a stone. Finding a half-functional abandoned jumpship in the outskirts of New York City, making it to Old Asia until it broke down, following a path of blue flowers until they came to an incredibly large city under a haunting, broken moon, reaching the Tower, and Chanyeol had felt it the whole time.

It was that attraction that had led him to ask around, prodding without fail until he got answers from strange Exos and Awoken Queens, ripping the eye out of a Vex Gate Lord— until he had pried the gates of the Black Garden open and cut out its Heart.

It was the same curiosity that had led him to commune with Guardians that had survived in Darkness, until they gave him a path to a prince, killing every Hive soldier loyal to Crota, destroyed the crystal that held the Light-Destroyer’s soul— and then the Hive God himself.

It was the same perseverant nagging that would bring King Oryx to Chanyeol’s doorstep, seeking revenge for his son. The Taken had been as close as Chanyeol had ever gotten to an answer, but it hadn’t been enough— Chanyeol and his fireteam forced the Taker of Will into a corner not even an echo of Oryx could get out of alive.

Three gods, Commander Sooman-52 commended Chanyeol often. You’re a hero.

Chanyeol knew he was considered a hero. They called him Kingslayer, most recently. Crota’s End. Cleanser of the Black Garden. Young Wolf. Sunbreaker. Titan. So many names, so many attempts to quench whatever it was that brought him back to Luna over and over again— and yet, here he was.

In a way, with time, he understood there was only one thing that could be behind the incessant beckoning. The Darkness— the enemy of old. He had defeated it and foiled its plans more than once. Chanyeol was a good Guardian. Chanyeol only knew how to be a Guardian.

So why didn’t it stop? What more did it want from him?

“You’re in one of those moods again,” Toben, the faithful little light, remarked with a sigh. Chanyeol offered his companion a half-smile that he couldn’t see through his helmet, anyway. “We’re not going down today, Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol’s smile immediately dropped.

“Why not?” The Titan questioned petulantly. “We’re already here! Nothing’s happening, too! The Hive and the Taken are all scattered since the War, and what’s a little bit of Fallen? They’re everywhere, anyway.”

“The answer’s still no.” Toben responded with finality. “You promised you’d be back in the City by the time Kyungsoo and Jongdae were back. We’re already late!”

“They would understand, Toben!” Chanyeol argued, still whining. “They know what this place means to me!”

Few people knew of how the Moon attracted Chanyeol— namely, Jongdae and Kyungsoo. His fellow Kingslayers and he had discussed many forbidden things at length, before, during, and after the Taken War that had brought them together. Jongin, the ever-perceptive kid they had adopted –Kyungsoo particularly— in the Crucible had commented on it, as if to coax Chanyeol to talk. However, there was little insight the Sunbreaker could offer to the Sentinel. Even to himself. Even to Toben.

“ _Earth to Chanyeol,_ ” Kyungsoo’s smooth voice came through his feed, making Toben bless the dark skies that surrounded them under his breath. “ _You around? You didn’t go into the World’s Grave again on your own, did you?_ ”

Chanyeol flushed, even if no one could see him. He shuffled his feet, kicking a small lunar rock down into the Hellmouth. “N-No. Pfft. I would never. What’s up?”

“ _We’re going back to the City already,_ ” His fellow Titan informed him, without actually pushing Chanyeol. “ _Thought you’d like to know. Jongin wants chicken tonight._ ”

“Jongin always wants chicken.” Chanyeol commented offhandedly, gesturing with a dismissive hand wave only Toben could see. “How was the mission? How was the collector or whatever?”

“ _Byun was very talkative,_ ” Kyungsoo grumbled. Being a particularly quiet guy, Kyungsoo was often intimidated by those who spoke a lot— and dealt with the inadequate feeling through aggression Chanyeol had been in the receiving end of many times. “ _He had semi-good instincts, I guess. The mission was… Strange. Something’s not right._ ”

“Wanna talk about it?”

Kyungsoo made a negative sound. “ _Later. For now, just get your ass back to your home planet._ ”

“On my way!” Chanyeol replied. He turned back to Toben, who nodded, calling for Chanyeol’s jumpship— a nondescript City Hawk, because Chanyeol tended to wreck things. Toben also refused to get him anything more than a Moonrider Zero as a sparrow before the Titan learnt the value of nice things.

As they waited for the ship to uncloak, Chanyeol pointed in a direction past the Hellmouth.

“Over there,” He told Toben, more seriously this time. “Next time we’re here, we’ll go there.”

“Sorrow’s Harbour?” Toben asked for confirmation. “Sure. We’ve never been there. Mostly because there’s nothing to see.”

“There’s _something_ ,” Chanyeol retorted pensively. A flash of scarlet came to mind, a scream, shadows, but they all disappeared before the Titan could grasp anything. “I don’t know what, but we’ll figure it out.”

There was a storm in the Last City. Even from beyond the mountains, Chanyeol could see it, thunder flickering ominously and— smoke. Smoke rising. There were dots, like crafts, approaching all at once. Chanyeol couldn’t tell if they were other City Hawks, or something else. Nothing was coming up in the radar.

“Repeat—” He was saying for what felt like the hundredth time. “Tower Approach, this is City Hawk two-seven-one. I repeat, it’s City Hawk two-seven-one. Is anyone home?”

Toben, by his side over the control panel of the ship, was fretting, growing more and more nervous.

“There’s no response on any channels, even the emergency frequencies.” The Ghost sighed heavily. “What is going on back there?”

“Do you think it’s just the storm?” Chanyeol wondered, not believing his own words. “The biggest blackout in the history of blackouts?”

Toben avoided answering the question directly.

“Remember when I told you that you fly too fast?” He asked instead, and Chanyeol grunted in acknowledgement. “Forget I ever said that. Fly faster.”

Chanyeol didn’t need to be told twice. He throttled the Hawk. The sight they were soon greeted with almost made Chanyeol want to pinch himself— there were Cabal warships everywhere, the Last City set aflame, rain falling unforgivably as well, while a star-shaped craft approached the Traveller directly, lodging itself on the surface of the entity.

Somehow, Chanyeol managed to get into the Last City among the Cabal warships. And somehow, he managed to activate transmat into the Hall of Guardians, the City Hawk abandoned to its fate in the raging skies. The Tower was already in shambles— a large hole in the floor, flames, and collapsed masonry that kept Chanyeol from moving forward.

An explosion on the side startled Chanyeol. Cabal Legionaries spilled out, but Chanyeol knew what to do— nothing an Antiope-D couldn’t deal with in a heartbeat. He fitted his helmet over his head quickly, only half-managing it to secure it.

At least, here, the Vanguard feed was back online.

“ _Where’s Jongok—_ ” Someone asked, while getting cut off by Guardian Lay saying: “ _I’ll find her. Go to the Plaza!_ ”

“ _I can’t believe you’ve just Dared me!_ ” Guardian Kris Wu was yelling, probably at Vanguard Sungwoo. “ _Our City won’t fall._ ”

“ _Either rendevouz at the Plaza, Guardians, or help civilians report to evac points immediately!_ ” Commander Sooman-52 was barking.

The Plaza it was. Or civilians. Whichever came to Chanyeol first.

“ _I don’t get it_ ,” Toben mumbled, mostly to himself, but Chanyeol could hear him loud and clear in their channel. “ _The Cabal conquer systems by blowing up planets. Whatever they want, it must be here._ ”

The foyer was in no better state than the rest of the Tower. By the now blocked staircase that would have led him straight into the Plaza, the Titan encountered Lord Donghae and a dozen Redjacks guarding a terrified group of refugees. At least, this place wasn't on fire.

“Ah, Chanyeol Park!” Lord Donghae’s voice was as loud and proud as ever. He pushed open the usually automated doors to his armoury. “Over here, Titan, through the armoury. Follow the path from there— you’ll go through the hangar to the Plaza. I’ll take care of these people.”

“If the Cabal want war, I’ll give them war.” Chanyeol declared with confident finality as he pulled the other man into a one-armed hug. Lord Donghae laughed in agreement.

“Give them war.” The Crucible handler echoed.

As he passed through the armoury, Chanyeol grabbed an auto rifle and a sidearm, just in case. The Military District wasn’t off much better than the rest of the Tower— in shambles, up in flames, even if no Cabal were a match for Chanyeol as he finally reached the hangar. Neither Jongdae’s Arrowhawk or Kyungsoo’s Classical Nova were here, though Jongin’s Leopard Zero was still around.

Chanyeol dared to look at the Last City through the open space of the hangar. The storm was strong. The _thing_ that had attached itself to the Traveller was expanding into a billion Cabal cells. “They’re not just assaulting the Tower— look at the Traveller, Toben!”

“ _Chanyeol!_ ” Jongdae spoke up through the comm, and oh, Chanyeol felt relieved upon hearing the Warlock’s voice. “ _Thank the Traveller you’re here!_ ”

“ _Ink keeps tagging these Cabal as Red Legion. What we got on that?_ ” Kyungsoo said for all greeting.

“ _They’re elite,_ _they’re saying here!_ ” It was Jongin interjecting now, voice loud through much shooting and explosions. “ _Ruthless! Never been defeated before!_ ”

“Until today.” Chanyeol sentenced as he kept moving forward. “Today, they face Guardians.”

“ _What do we do about the Traveller?_ ” Jongdae asked urgently. Jongin yelled again: “ _The Traveller can wait! We have to protect our people!_ ”

Spoken like a true Sentinel. Chanyeol was so proud of Jongin. The Sunbreaker was already on his way through the Plaza and had to avoid a barrage of missiles behind a wall that almost finished collapsing on him. One of the triangular pillars had been hit, broken and falling to the side with a loud crash. If that main warcraft kept sending rip pods full of soldiers and missiles, they would never see the end of this.

“Commander!” Chanyeol shouted into the feed. “Let me at that ship!”

“ _We’ve got the Plaza, Park!_ ” The Exo informed him, and as Chanyeol approached the group, he could see that they did seem to have it under control. He spotted Jongin among other familiar faces— his roommate, Sehun, and the Warlock that tagged along with him everywhere. Rip pods were coming down quickly from the sky, housing more Cabal soldiers for them to fight. “ _Get to that ship right now!_ ”

“ _Commander, both the Speaker and Jongok are MIA,_ ” It was Guardian Xiumin speaking in the feed then. “ _I have to find them_.”

“ _I’ll make sure every shuttle leaves if you keep the Plaza clear!_ ” Guardian Suho promised.

Chanyeol kept running. As he made it into the North Wing of the Tower through the ground floor, he found a frame sweeping as if nothing was wrong. It made him laugh breathily to himself.

“ _I’m give you a ride, Chanyeol,_ ” Kyungsoo stated. “ _That ship needs to be off the field_.”

The Titan made it through to the courtyard, where Kyungsoo was shooting off some Incendiors from his comfortable spot in the stormy sky. Chanyeol felt the alert of being transmatted into the ship more than he heard it, and before he knew it, he was landing behind the cockpit of Kyungsoo’s Classical Nova. The other man was focused, barely glancing at Chanyeol, before guiding the ship towards the Traveller.

“So,” Chanyeol mentioned casually as he stretched, preparing himself on the spot. “I guess dinner’s gonna be re-scheduled.”

“They bombed the restaurant down. I checked.” Kyungsoo muttered angrily, as if it was a personal offence. “I had my first date with Jongin there. This is fucking personal.”

Chanyeol remembered that date— he had been there for its first half as a buffer, along with Jongdae, because Jongin and Kyungsoo were too shy. As if to make a point, the small Striker gunned down a Thresher and a couple of fighter jets that dared to get in his way. Hell hath no fury like a Kyungsoo Do scorned.

When they were almost to the command ship, the craft started raising its shields. Kyungsoo had to do a jarring manoeuvre to avoid getting vaporised by them, and then, he swung around the bow of the ship where multiple rip pods were being launched. Once he found an unshielded rail, he opened the doors of his craft for Chanyeol to drop down.

“If the Cabal want war—” Kyungsoo began, and Chanyeol waved him off, loading his gun.

“—Give them war. I know.”

It was a blur from then. Chanyeol remembered only parts of it— headbutting a Legionary into submission, shooting heads off Psions, ripping the wings from Centurions until Toben and he made it into the generator room, to make turbines explode and the shields fizzle out. He remembered feeling determined, confident, even as communications with Commander Sooman and other Guardians, particularly Kyungsoo, became riddled with static and with something frantic. He remembered hearing nothing but static as he called for Kyungsoo over and over again, to tell him they were headed topside, to pick them up again, to blow up the ship.

And then, it was all painfully clear. Vivid. The feeling of foreshadowing as the top deck lead Chanyeol directly in front of the caging device— the Traveller was completely surrounded now. An orange force field activated, and then, suddenly, Chanyeol felt as if his soul was being separated from his body.

The Light.

“Chanyeol,” Toben transmatted into existence, but he looked weak— dull. “Chanyeol, something’s wrong…”

The Ghost fell to the ground, exhausted. Chanyeol collapsed to his knees right next to him, and when the doors of the deck opened once more, a Cabal unlike any Chanyeol had ever seen before came out to face them.

His skin was unnaturally white, his eyes red. His commander regalia was all white and gold, imposing spiked wings on the back. Most importantly, he was _massive_ , towering over Chanyeol at least twice.

He was a terrifying creature. Chanyeol feebly tried to grab Toben and protect him as this Cabal approached them slowly.

“Welcome,” The Cabal commander spoke, his voice gravelly and menacing. It didn’t need to shout to make himself heard. “To a world without Light.”

Chanyeol stared up at the commander in horror. This only angered him. “Do not look at me, creature!”

He kicked Chanyeol, separating him from Toben when he was sent flying across the deck, near the edge.

How was this happening? Why couldn’t Chanyeol get up? He was a Kingslayer. Crota’s End. Cleanser of the Black Garden. Young Wolf. Sunbreaker. Titan. He was a hero of the Last City. Three gods had been brought to their knees by him. He had defeated and foiled the Darkness many times before. The Hellmouth called him like a siren and he never fell to it. He needed to get to Toben. He needed Toben.

“You are weak.” The Cabal spoke as it slowly made its way to Toben first. He took the Ghost into his large hand almost delicately but didn’t stop to examine the shell even as Toben flickered back to life. “Undisciplined. Cowering behind walls.”

He was right in front of Chanyeol once more. Chanyeol attempted to look defiant, but— he only felt paralysing fear.

“You’re not brave,” The commander wasn’t mocking Chanyeol— he was telling him the bare truth. “You’ve merely forgotten the fear of death.”

He stepped closer to Chanyeol. “Allow me to reacquaint you.”

Two things happened then. The Cabal commander threw Toben off the ship, and Chanyeol screamed after his Ghost, reaching out, but getting smacked for his trouble. He was pushed to the ground, teetering over the edge.

“Your kind never deserved the power you were given.” The Cabal sentenced, crushing Chanyeol’s chest with his gigantic boot, breaking ribs in the process. “I am Ghaul. And your Light… Is mine.”

Chanyeol was kicked off the deck next, unable to stop Ghaul, falling after Toben. His body crashed into something before he even knew to expect it, and everything went dark.

It was approaching sunrise, when Chanyeol came to inside a ship he didn’t recognise. It took him a moment to orient himself, and he didn’t really manage to gather much. While there was no pain, there was no comfort, either. There was a sob, and a soft voice speaking.

“…Just don’t know how we’re going to come back from this.”

The words processed themselves in Chanyeol’s heart before they acquired meaning in his head. “I don't think we do.”

His voice was only a croak, but it caused a flurry of activity. Chanyeol attempted to grasp more of his surroundings— it was coming back to him. The City in flames. The loss of the Light. Ghaul. He had no shirt. No armour. Where was he? Where were his things?

As memories came back to him, he felt worse and worse until Toben spoke.

“Chanyeol, you’re awake!”

“Toben,” He called out with relief as he blindly reached for his Ghost. “I thought I had lost you.”

Toben hovered close to Chanyeol’s face, assessing him and then blinking. He looked in a much better, energetic state than when they had unwillingly parted in the deck. “I thought _I_ had lost you, too. But this other Guardian saved us!”

The sight that greeted Chanyeol when he gathered the strength to sit up and turn would be seared into his mind. There was something about the petite man with messy silver hair, droopy eyes and a small button nose. He was attractive, right off the bat, even if his lilac and red poncho was… Questionable. Chanyeol felt almost guilty for thinking this so soon after… Ghaul.

Baekhyun. That was the man’s name. Not a Guardian, but a scavenger. A scavenger who had saved them and was taking them to a safe haven far from the Cabal.

A mysterious figure, who allowed Chanyeol to move about his ship questioning the other Guardians present –Jongin, Sehun, and Tao, while Kyungsoo and Jongdae followed in another craft— as if he knew Chanyeol needed to regain some semblance of the leadership he was accustomed to. A patient man, who even allowed Chanyeol to question _him_ when he revealed their destination.

But there was a key difference to them— Chanyeol wanted control. Baekhyun couldn’t care less.

“Here’s the thing about City rules, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun drawled out, his eyes slanted and not leaving the Titan’s own. His own name being spoken by the man’s voice made something spark in Chanyeol. “They stop applying once you leave the City.”

Baekhyun had no right. He was no hero. He hadn’t seen the things Chanyeol had seen. They needed the rules of the Last City. It had been the only thing keeping Humanity alive in the centuries after the Collapse.

What had it been that Ghaul said? Cowering behind walls?

“The Vanguard might not agree with that,” Chanyeol found himself blurting out anyway, bitter and aiming to hurt. “You might not answer to them, _scavenger_ , but we do.”

Chanyeol could pinpoint the exact moment Baekhyun’s expression closed off.

“I’m gonna go out on a limb here, maybe hurt your feeling a little bit,” Baekhyun began, his tone deceptively light-hearted. “But ask yourself this— exactly _what_ Vanguard?”

Chanyeol did his best to stand by his words, silent and strong. As Baekhyun continued speaking, though, it became harder and harder to remain unphased.

“Sooman-52 is dead, for good. Jongok, what? She just dropped off the face of the Earth when the going got tough, I suppose. And then Sungwoo— Sungwoo Dared, that’s with a capital D, Kris Wu to become Vanguard if we lost the City, which we did!”

Baekhyun got up, leaving his own ship unattended. It immediately began to nose-dive, albeit slowly. Baekhyun was unmoved by this. Chanyeol remembered thinking then— _this is a man that has nothing to lose._

“Do you even realise how much of a bad idea that is? Kris Wu as Hunter Vanguard?” Baekhyun questioned, raising his voice and not even leaving Chanyeol time to answer. “That’s the single worst idea Sungwoo has ever had, hands down. Give me a fucking break. And to prove it to you!” He jabbed Chanyeol’s chest, startling him further. “I will ask you, where is either of them right now? Because Wu isn’t answering any of my calls. So, either he bailed, like Jongok, or he’s dead, like Sooman.”

Behind that anger, there was fear. Chanyeol felt scared, too, and partly was because the ship was now clearly going down much faster and no one dared to move, as if enthralled by the furiously berating Baekhyun.

“All of this without me even mentioning how fucking _high_ the possibility of all your and my friends that aren’t in these two ships right now are _dead_. In fact, I don’t even know a single one of you! I could’ve brought, I don’t know, my helpless elderly neighbours along. But I chose Guardians, instead, because—”

The craft demanded Baekhyun’s attention through intense beeping. Baekhyun only seemed to come back to their reality then and turned back to the ship’s command panel. When he spoke again, his voice was flat and exhausted.

“We’ll be at the farm in ten minutes. Put on a shirt, Chanyeol. You’re not meeting my family half-naked.”

In a second, Sehun and Tao and Toben were surrounding Chanyeol, scolding him in whispers.

“He roasted you so hard,” Sehun praised, frowning so he wouldn’t laugh. “Goodness, Chanyeol. Get it together, man.”

“We don’t need to make enemies with a scavenger, Chanyeol,” Toben reprimanded. “Who knows where his hands have been.”

“I’m so embarrassed for you,” Tao moaned. “Please. Put on a shirt.”

Baekbeom Byun was a kind man— patient and warm. While he appeared rugged and tough, due to his angry scars and the black eyepatch and the clothes that screamed of life in the wild, he moved with the tranquillity of a normal citizen who despised fighting. He welcomed them all with open arms into his –the— Farm, a collection of houses around a millennia-old fountain, and while Chanyeol felt terrible that he hadn’t heard a single word that had come out of the elder Byun’s mouth, he didn’t feel as terrible when he remembered just— watching Baekhyun.

The man had trailed away, greeted a woman affectionately, played with a baby, all painful smiles as he spoke in low voices with her. There was something vulnerable about him— open and heartbroken. Like he was barely holding himself together. Chanyeol felt the same way.

Chanyeol imagined he should’ve known then, what Baekhyun would mean to him.

The following hours, Chanyeol spent as active as possible, scared of what nightmares awaited him when he finally slept. He worked around the Farm, Baekhyun nowhere to be seen, following the directions that Baekbeom and Yeongja gave him as refugees slowly but surely began to come in. When there was no longer any use for him for anything practical, Toben and he sat away somewhere, and began researching on the small clues they had— Red Legion and Ghaul.

It was bad. It was, perhaps, worse than anything Chanyeol had faced before. Dominus Ghaul had won where all the Hive gods Chanyeol had faced failed— taking away the Light, shutting it out, caging it, until there was nothing left.

When Baekhyun had emerged again, it was twilight. Chanyeol was almost embarrassed to admit that his eyes wouldn’t leave the much more stoic and even funny man’s small frame.

As they spoke to Lord Donghae, it became apparent to Chanyeol that the man was insightful on something that seemed obvious and yet Chanyeol hadn’t contemplated. As he went away with his brother, it suddenly dawned on Chanyeol that this ordinary scavenger was the one all Guardians in the Farm owed their life to. As dinner was shared and a story was told, Chanyeol appreciated the lengths Baekhyun would go to keep the spirits of complete strangers up.

Chanyeol had a hard time stopping himself from taking in on Baekhyun’s every movement.

He wasn’t a Guardian, yet he knew more about their history than Guardians themselves. He wasn’t a Guardian, yet he conducted himself with the know-how of one of their leaders. He wasn’t a Guardian, yet he was magnetic and bright, as if Light had chosen him and had been born within him, like a young Shin Malphur.

“A crush so soon?” Toben whispered in the dead of night, once they had all retired to their bunk beds and everyone around Chanyeol was asleep. “I mean— he’s okay, I suppose. What do you like so much about him?”

Chanyeol could already think of many things, but he wouldn’t have been able to put them down in words if he tried. In the end, he settled for a quiet: “I don’t know. Maybe it’ll pass.”

Chanyeol didn’t actually think it would. That night, he didn’t dream of the Hellmouth, nor of red eyes and white wings watching him with contempt.

There was a pool of stagnant water in the woods by Baekbeom’s house. Every morning, for a fortnight, Baekhyun would head in the direction of this pond, only to come back hours later— be it with game, a basket full of berries, or with firewood for the cold nights. Every morning, afternoon and night, during the very same fortnight, Chanyeol would watch him.

It was safe to say Chanyeol’s crush hadn’t passed. He was intensely interested in the particular shade of silver that adorned Baekhyun’s hair, always messy, always tousled, always in movement. He had counted every mole on Baekhyun’s face, cataloguing them aloud with a reluctant Jongdae and Kyungsoo and Jongin and even Sehun and Tao, cheeks always heating up at the realisation that Baekhyun probably had moles in other parts of his body as well— and that he wanted to see them. The sound of Baekhyun’s laughter, always loud and hearty, made him feel warm and tingly all over. Baekhyun’s personality, of a chaotic energy that seemed to come and go in a pattern Chanyeol hadn’t deciphered, drew him in.

Baekhyun was good-natured, relatively unbothered with how Guardians invaded his space and yet at the same time watching them as if he couldn’t wait for them to leave. Baekhyun was sweet and inviting, yet he held his cards closely to his chest like a seasoned poker player. Baekhyun seemed fearless but jumped at the smallest of sounds or bumps in the night, always vigilant. Baekhyun was witty, and so charming that even the snarkiest of comments didn’t seem so much as a jab but as a joke. Baekhyun paid attention when spoken to, asked appropriate and even interesting questions, yet his mind was always somewhere else. Baekhyun was an open book, and yet he was a complete enigma to Chanyeol.

“Do we have to stage an intervention?” Jongdae would ask him as he fed chickens and Chanyeol and Kyungsoo brushed bristling horses. “Do we need to do an Operation Crimson Days like we did with Kyungsoo and Jongin? I’m sure we can work something out.”

“We’d need to butter up Big Brother Byun, though,” Kyungsoo interjected, completely serious. “Just in case. If you have Baekbeom’s approval from the get-go, Baekhyun might be much easier to charm.”

“Guys, seriously, it’s not that bad,” Chanyeol muttered in embarrassment. “So I like him a little bit. Whatever. It’s meaningless. It’s because he’s cool. And charming. And handsome. And cute. And se—”

Kyungsoo stopped him dead on his tracks by chucking his horse brush at Chanyeol’s head.

“See— you have no idea how long we’ve waited to tease you over a crush,” The other Titan complained. “But now that we’re here, you’re so pathetic about it that I can’t. You’re like a kicked puppy.”

Chanyeol knew he was pathetic. He felt ashamed, really, of how he bordered in obsession. Oh, how the mighty fall. Ironically, however, it was the fantasy of Baekhyun what kept him from insanity.

Because Chanyeol felt useless. He felt like a loser. He felt paralysed. Scared. Incapable. Stupid. Unnerved. Sad. Anxious. Withering. Furious. Regretful. There were so many words for his emotions, because falling from the very top of the world to rock bottom _hurt_ , like nothing Chanyeol had ever felt before.

All he knew was being a Guardian. There was nothing else out there for him. He had been one of the very best— or so he had thought. Instead, he couldn’t stop thinking of Ghaul’s words— he wasn’t brave. He had no discipline. He was weak. He had never deserved to have the Light.

So what if watching Baekhyun and avoiding actually getting out of the Farm to retake the Last City was all he wanted to do? This was easy. Life in the Farm was easy. Baekhyun made it easy, even if he seemed to avoid talking to Chanyeol for very long. Chanyeol still enjoyed their conversations— as long as they didn’t speak of the Last City and what were Chanyeol’s plans.

One afternoon, almost at sunset, Baekhyun left for the direction of the stagnant pool. Chanyeol, as he had grown used to, watched him. Kyungsoo walked out of the house only a few minutes later, Taehyung in his arms, cuddling him.

“This is your chance,” Kyungsoo urged Chanyeol with wide eyes. “He went to get some branches. Why don’t you go help him? Strike up conversation,” Kyungsoo took the time to awkwardly and somewhat precariously balance Taehyung on his bent leg and cover the toddler’s ears for a moment. “Kiss him. Do it.”

Chanyeol flushed while Kyungsoo went back to holding Taehyung properly and securely.

“I can’t… Do that,” Chanyeol began, and stopped himself when Kyungsoo gave him a warning look before he repeated such dirty things in front of the blubbering baby. “It’s too soon. We barely know each other.”

“Then go and get to know each other.” Kyungsoo pressed, muttering under his breath. “Heck. I thought _I_ was slow and needed help.”

Chanyeol stubbornly stayed where he sat for thirty minutes, just mocking Kyungsoo in his mind for not being able to curse in front of a non-speaking baby and feeling sorry for himself. After that, he grew fidgety, and Toben transmatted in front of him with a knowing eye.

“Wanna go look for Baekhyun?” Toben suggested plainly. Chanyeol hurt his neck, he nodded so vigorously.

It was then, really, that Chanyeol began to realise not everything was quite alright with Baekhyun.

Baekhyun had walked quite a bit into the woods— maybe too far along. Chanyeol wondered at first if perhaps he had run away, but soon enough, he came across the scavenger, or rather, his voice.

He was talking to someone.

“Oh, fuck you.” Baekhyun muttered, and then let out a cry of pain which had Chanyeol speeding up in the direction of his voice. “Stop that, I got it, I’m sorry!”

He found Baekhyun just sitting on the forest bed, cradling his head with one hand, eyes lost into nothingness, face red. He was alone, but he was still speaking.

“Haven’t I given you enough?” Baekhyun was asking, and then, his voice was too low for Chanyeol to understand him properly, but he kept muttering, until Chanyeol decided to stop watching and do something.

“Baekhyun?” He called uncertainly, and when Baekhyun properly turned to him, eyes focusing in an instant and blood pouring out of his nose like the grimiest of faucets, the Titan panicked and rushed to his side, putting a hand over Baekhyun’s head with the full intent to pull back on his hair and examine him— Baekhyun never gave him the chance, swatting the hand away. “Baekhyun! What happened to you?!”

“What do you mean?” Baekhyun questioned, nonchalant. “I’m fine.”

“You’re bleeding.” Chanyeol retorted, concerned. When Baekhyun grew alarmed as well, and began checking his body for injuries, Chanyeol felt guilty, and took his hands out of instinct. They felt nice, even through gloves.

Baekhyun’s tongue peeked out of his mouth, tasting the blood and making Chanyeol’s stomach flip with something not quite pleasant at the imagery. “Oh.”

“And you’re just sitting here on the ground, just… Literally just sitting here. Looking out of it.” Chanyeol continued, and gave himself a pause, debating on whether he should reveal what he had seen. “I thought I heard you talking to someone, too.”

Baekhyun immediately shut him down, looking up at the blond Titan as if pleading. “There’s nobody here. A deer attacked me.”

It was a lie. A bad one, too. Chanyeol wanted to pry, but it was Toben who took pity on Baekhyun, and they merely guided the scavenger back to the Farm.

Whatever window of opportunity he had to see what was truly going on, anyway, was gone the moment Chanyeol had made his presence known to the other man. The Titan tucked the strange sight for later, and instead, milked the moments they had together by touching Baekhyun, by speaking to him without reservation, and Baekhyun’s defences had to be quite low— because he answered honestly.

Skulking Fox. Chanyeol could see it— Baekhyun was a bit like a wild animal, albeit one that was used to the presence of people. He was a lonely creature, Chanyeol realised sadly, even with those whom he loved most. It reminded Chanyeol of himself, standing at the edge of the Hellmouth and asking himself questions that had no answer.

He hadn’t thought back to the Moon in quite a bit, though. Granted, he had been otherwise preoccupied— but Chanyeol couldn’t hear any whisper, any insistent ringing, anything that guided him to a new enemy or to even a solution. His only compass was gone.

His mind was silent in this Farm. His mind was silent around Baekhyun.

The Light— Chanyeol could’ve really used the Light, the very next morning, when Baekhyun turned out to be actually missing.

It was Tao who raised the alarm, when he realised Sehun –and all of Sehun’s things— were gone from the room they all shared. Chanyeol wondered how the young Nightstalker had went out without any of them realising, but then again, he _was_ a Nightstalker. When Chanyeol left the room to ask Baekhyun about it, he realised the man was also gone.

Baekbeom was livid. It was easier to see the similarities between Baekhyun and Baekbeom when the older brother actually snarled at a poor Jongdae as he delivered the news that one of the Guardians and the scavenger were nowhere to be found.

“You five,” The man with one wildly shimmering eye muttered to the Guardians he had welcomed in his house, which seemed somehow worse than him shouting at them, “Are going to tear this whole place apart until you find some sort of clue of where’s my little brother and find him.”

“What about Sehun?” Tao asked with equally shiny eyes, though for completely different reasons. Baekbeom looked at the Warlock as if he was crazy.

“Find. My. Little. Brother.” Baekbeom enunciated as if he was trying his hardest not to scream. “And then _maybe_ , just _maybe_ , I’ll take pity on you and set my bloodhounds on that Hunter. But oh, wait, my best tracker is _gone_.”

To see the man that hadn’t been anything but kind and fatherly to them so agitated really made them scurry to try and find Baekhyun. Jongin found Baekhyun’s things inside his Häkke Vimana, but they were tossed on the floor inside a duffle bag— as if something had stopped him from actually flying away. One of the sparrows was half-hijacked, but whoever had been tinkering on it had left it like that— as if something had stopped them from actually stealing it and driving away.

“They met here,” Jongdae concluded thoughtfully. “Were they planning this?”

“If they were, it was a really impulsive idea,” Jongin mused, and Chanyeol had to agree. “I think they might’ve just… Ran into each other. They must be together. But where did they go?”

Tao rushed to meet them by the fountain. “Two horses are gone!”

When he heard this, Baekbeom almost crumpled to the floor, aided by his more put together wife so he didn’t collapse, his anger seemingly –momentarily— gone. Apparently, Baekhyun was pretty scared of being heard around Trostland— another mystery to add to the pile of unsolved mysteries that Baekhyun was to Chanyeol. If he had gone in the direction of the town, it would’ve been by horse. He had to have gone to Trostland. To the Shard of the Traveller.

And then, it couldn’t have been more than an hour later— Baekhyun was back, showing off a Sehun Oh shining with newly bestowed Void Light, calling him Traveller’s Chosen, smiling so brightly that he blinded anyone who got too close.

Jealousy, green and ugly, settled in the pit of Chanyeol’s stomach. For more than one reason.

 _He_ was a Kingslayer. _He_ was Crota’s End. Cleanser of the Black Garden. Young Wolf. Sunbreaker. Titan. So _why_ had the Traveller not called for _him_? Why had it chosen Sehun Oh? A new Light with little to no experience, quiet and unsure of his own abilities, more concerned with playing pranks and being mischievous around the Tower with a nervously playful Jongin and a supportive yet sensitive Tao.

Chanyeol struggled to be the better person. Not choking Sehun until he died –he’d be back, anyway, that motherfucker— proved to be a task requiring all of his self-control. It didn’t help, not one bit, to see Baekhyun watch Sehun with an unconscious smile, defending him from the other Guardians’ scrutiny, narrating the prowess of the Hunter to them and promising to follow Sehun wherever he went.

Jealousy only grew.

For reasons that could only be related to seniority, Chanyeol found himself as the leader of those who wished to go to join Suho in his resistance. However, he was uncertain how they would make it to Titan at all. What good would he be, when Sehun on his own was so capable, and the supposed Sunbreaker was instead frozen in place, unable to make a single decision to help retake the City? When he found himself so scared of a final death? When the mere idea of Dominus Ghaul made him recoil?

Chanyeol felt inadequate, for the first time in his second life.

And then—

“Then follow me to Titan.” Sehun asked.

Overhearing Sehun reminded Chanyeol of how young he was— even compared to himself. Sehun was fumbling his way through a new life, and now, he had been entrusted with the whole power of the Light solely on his person. But Sehun was also smart. The Hunter would need help. He also perceived the untapped power Baekhyun had over others. Chanyeol himself wasn’t ready to defend Sehun in battle, maybe, but Baekhyun? Baekhyun was eager to prove himself.

Chanyeol could still make a difference, he realised. He was a Lightless Guardian— but he was a Guardian, nonetheless. He could help Sehun, if the Traveller had so chosen him to defeat Ghaul. He could protect Baekhyun, and the idea gave him purpose.

Chanyeol liked to think it was the Light who whispered this time— telling him to take Baekhyun with them.

He didn’t regret his decision when he got to talk to Baekhyun, share a little bit more with him and learning about his past, even when he couldn’t reciprocate. He didn’t regret it when he listened to another tale –one he was familiar with, this time— while Baekhyun used him as a cushion. He didn’t regret it when he woke up in the Tangled Shore, so close to Baekhyun, body sore and satisfied at the same time, although yearning for more.

He didn’t regret it when they reached Titan to a failed resistance, and Baekhyun showed off Sehun again like he was his biggest source of pride.

There was a storm raging outside as they waited for Fireteam Utopia to make it back to their base.

Guardian Suho was very sweet. Chanyeol was more than happy to accept him as their new Commander, and as his new personal class Vanguard— even a little relieved, having that kind of guidance once more. They said Chanyeol was a natural leader, but secretly, at times he felt he wasn’t too much of a team player to be able to lead properly. He had too much ego, he was well aware. Guardian Suho was selfless, in a way Chanyeol didn’t see himself ever being.

He was also quite observant.

“So, is there something going on between Baekhyun Byun and you, Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol promptly choked on air, flushing up to his ears. Suho chuckled good-naturedly, not pressing, allowing Chanyeol to gather his bearings back again.

No one was paying much attention to the two of them, anyway. Kyungsoo and Gayeon were sorting through the dead Ghosts they had found, opening each one –even if it was a bit morbid— to see if they had anything useful to say. Jongdae and Guardian Lay were monitoring Utopia’s advances in the New Pacific Arcology, speaking of the Golden Age colony’s history in low voices. Suho and he had just been waiting in silence.

“Uhm,” Chanyeol finally began, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Although he had grown bolder since the previous night, and it seemed like Baekhyun was opening up to Chanyeol a little bit more, that was still quite far from being the truth. “Not really, sir? N-Not that I’m aware of.”

“Really?” Suho said with a fond sort of surprise— as if he didn’t buy it. “That’s truly a pity. He has grown into a good man, that Baekhyun. I think you’d suit each other.”

Chanyeol didn’t know what to do with that information. He opted for satisfying his curiosity: “You know him well, sir?”

“I know a lot about him and his brother, more like,” Suho corrected. “Kris adores him to bits— so does Lay. Xiumin has the cutest story about him, loves him, too. I don’t think he realises the impression he causes, though.”

Chanyeol nodded. He could tell. Baekhyun seemed to be in his own little head, most of the time, and was always pleasantly surprised to see that his actions in the real world mattered. At least, that’s how Chanyeol had felt when he had asked him to come with them to Titan.

“If you think you like him,” Suho whispered more conspiratorially, even coy. “You should do something about it, you know? There’s no time to waste. We’re in a war. It’s now or never.”

“ _Utopia to Siren’s Watch and Riptide,_ ” Jongin was calling then, reminding Chanyeol that they were on a very tight schedule and making him sort of forget the argument that precisely because of the war maybe he wouldn’t make a move. “ _Can you hear us?_ ”

Chanyeol’s heart had never hammered quite as hard as then— knowing Baekhyun was trapped under their feet with a colony of Hive coming for him, that if he got caught, he wouldn’t be able to come back. When Suho ordered Chanyeol and Gayeon to go get the fireteam, Chanyeol was already with one foot out of the door. Seeing Baekhyun get into his own ship, exhausted and somewhat pale but ultimately unharmed was the greatest of reliefs.

It was only when Sehun and Jongin and Tao climbed into the Häkke Vimana with them that Chanyeol thought— _oh, that’s right._

Jongin, so dear to his heart, had almost died as well. Had been closer to death that Baekhyun had been, actually, from what they shared. Sehun and Tao, both of whom he was growing fond of despite the envy, had been quite distressed. Chanyeol felt guilty that they hadn’t even crossed his mind before Baekhyun, all of his senses flooded with wondering about the scavenger first and foremost.

When Baekhyun napped on the floor of the sinking docks and screamed bloody murder, Chanyeol forgot all about the Almighty and the Sun and anything grim again, if it meant keeping Baekhyun safe from even his dreams. The Titan held the other man without reservation, comforting him, under the knowing eyes of everyone around them, and Baekhyun— Baekhyun had allowed it.

“I think it’s safe to say it’s a little bit more than a crush,” Toben would suggest later that night, when Baekhyun, who had latched to Chanyeol after his nightmare and as they waited, was distracted. “And it isn’t gonna pass.”

Toben was right.

Thinking like Kris Wu was no easy feat.

Chanyeol just— didn’t really understand the senior Hunter. Why had he hidden a whole Machine World from the Vanguard? Why had he covered up the fact that Luhan had contacted him and that they had been meeting ever since? Why had he escaped the Last City when he was now the Vanguard Hunter? Why was he using Vex teleporting devices without knowing how to?

Why was he so mean to Baekhyun, the only man who seemed a bit happy to see him?

But Chanyeol had no business asking. Neither did Sehun. They both wanted to protect Baekhyun, defend him, and didn’t even know where to start other than share exasperated looks. Chanyeol was still reeling from another little trip with Baekhyun, from listening to his singing voice, from feeling his hair tickle his neck, from dropping down a gravity lift with him.

There was history between Kris and Baekhyun. Chanyeol kind of wanted to punch Kris, for not appreciating that history in a way a man with no past, such as Chanyeol, would do in his place. But he was now their superior, and he had to play his cards right if they wanted to get him back to fight Ghaul. Their trek through Nessus to Luhan’s hiding spot was tense and silent, as he searched for the right way to approach the subject.

Traveller bless Lay and his bluntness.

“So, Kris,” The blond Hunter began nonchalantly. “You didn’t really have to put down Baekhyun like that.”

Kris sighed heavily, shoulders slumping as they walked. Chanyeol watched him closely. Despite the Hunter looking somewhat ashamed and guilty, his tone was snotty and angered when he spoke.

“Yes, I did,” He retorted tersely. “Baekhyun has no business being here. He’s vulnerable.”

“Vulnerable?” Sehun parroted in disbelief, suddenly brave. “In what world?”

Kris glared at Sehun, who surprisingly didn’t back down, merely raising an eyebrow at the Vanguard. “In this world, kid. Baekhyun isn’t a Guardian.”

“So what?” Sehun kept pushing. “You keep saying those words, but I don’t think you realise that they’re totally meaningless at this point in time.”

“Who gave you the right to talk to me like that?” Kris questioned.

“Well, according to you, the Light gives me authority above all!” Sehun sneered, and Lay snorted while Kris grunted in warning. “Where’s my crown?”

“Sehun is right,” Chanyeol interjected seriously. “We owe Baekhyun being here at all. None of this would’ve happened without his help. He’s wonderf— strong.”

The Titan thought the Hunters would allow his little slip to pass. True to their Hunter natures, Chanyeol held back a groan when he felt how the atmosphere between them changed, all attention on him.

“We do owe Baekhyun this,” Sehun agreed, and Chanyeol prayed that would be it, but the Nightstalker immediately added: “And Chanyeol really likes him.”

Lay laughed softly. Kris turned to face Chanyeol so fast, the Sunbreaker worried he got whiplash.

“What does he mean you really like Baekhyun?” Kris’s voice wasn’t particularly loud, but Chanyeol felt threatened. He also felt himself blushing.

“I-It means I really like Baekhyun,” It wasn’t the first time Chanyeol admitted to this. However, there was something more sincere, more candid— more intense. Chanyeol’s shoulders loosened at the realisation. “Oh. I do. I really, really like him.”

“No shit.” Sehun quipped, breaking the moment. Kris was shaking his head, although he was back to leading their little group up towards a large radiolaria waterfall.

“You should forget about those feelings, Chanyeol,” The oldest Hunter advised, his voice acquiring a more sombre tone. “Take it from me. When you get your Light back –and you will— he’ll still be Lightless. He’ll still be mortal. He’ll still grow old, if he doesn’t recklessly die first.”

There was silence.

“Plus, he doesn’t trust the Tower,” Kris continued. “With good reason for it. If he’s helping you, it’s for the sake of the Last City— not because he likes you. Any of you.”

More silence.

“And he’s a handful,” Kris finished, now sounding somewhat bitter. “You don’t really understand _how_ much of a handful. I should’ve stayed back with him. Or Lay, you should’ve stayed. He’s gonna go stir crazy with Mongryong. I hope he doesn’t end up killing Mongryong. He’s not even gonna research about the Abyssal Champion, he’s gonna get in trouble, I just know it—”

“—Okay, no spiralling!” Lay commanded airily. “Let’s just agree on something, Kris. You were too harsh. I know it’s difficult to see Baekhyun on his own, but he’s come a long way! And also, I think Chanyeol can do whatever he wants. Can’t you, Chanyeol?”

“I definitely can,” Chanyeol stated. “And I like Baekhyun. I will do something about it. He respects you, Kris, so you should at least give him the same treatment.”

They were coming up to an old, abandoned Vex gate by the waterfall. There were Vex remains stacked around it, and a man with a strange bird headpiece working on a makeshift desk. The man seemed entranced by what he was investigating and hadn’t even looked up.

“Baekhyun respects me! Sure, okay,” Kris conceded somewhat disdainfully. “Do what you want. But it won’t be pretty. Now, with Luhan— let me do the talking.”

“Are you ready, Guardians?”

Chanyeol had decided, pretty quickly, that he hated Luhan.

The man was smarmy, smug, overconfident— and with all the right reasons. He reminded Chanyeol a little bit of himself, maybe. But Chanyeol was certain that, upon first meeting other people, he wouldn’t force those people into a Vex simulation of the future that included watching his friends get murdered one by one.

Honestly, Chanyeol would’ve been content just _believing_ Luhan. He said the Io fireteam was in danger? Okay, cool. Chanyeol didn’t need proof. They just had to pick Baekhyun up and go. There was honestly _no need_ for the hands-on demonstration.

Chanyeol could’ve done without the imagery of Jongdae being sent into a void of neurites to protect Xiumin, and then watch the elder Warlock fall into the void as well. Without Kyungsoo being overwhelmed by constantly duplicating Taken Psions until he couldn’t fight them off. Without Jongin bleeding to death on his own behind some crates, waiting for someone to come for him.

But no. Luhan had insisted. Luhan had insisted, and it had been hours, and now Chanyeol had to cross another of his damned Vex portals just to reach Baekhyun again, with the images of things he had avoided for so long mixing up with reality in his mind.

Chanyeol didn’t even dignify Luhan with an answer. He only grumbled under his breath, following an equally shell-shocked Sehun to avoid the portal, even if it meant walking all the way back to the Exodus Black. Mongryong’s cabin was a welcome sight, even despite everything that had transpired only by the entrance of it. There was music coming out, and Chanyeol could even make out Baekhyun belting out. He smiled, despite how bad he felt.

“Someone’s having fun, at least.” Toben remarked. Sehun, quick and light on his feet, was practically skipping inside— Kris following closely behind. Chanyeol went afterwards, after Luhan offered him an eye smile and Chanyeol only frowned at him.

Going in, Baekhyun had probably done the most impressive thing Chanyeol had ever seen.

He was so small without his poncho and his armour, even if he had broad shoulders. He was waiting for them, frozen, like a guilty puppy as an unfamiliar Ghost floated around him, its little eye orange, and Mongryong in the meantime was torn to shreds on the floor. As soon as Kris began questioning him, though, the scavenger was no longer guilty— he was defiant.

Toben was disgusted out of his mind. Chanyeol contemplated very seriously the idea that he was already a little bit in love.

He would tell Kyungsoo and Jongdae so once they met again, between waves of Taken.

“Isn’t it a little too soon?” Jongdae wondered in a low voice. “I mean, we left the Farm like, a day ago. You were scared of talking to him, and now you’re in love?”

“Okay, maybe not _in love_ ,” Chanyeol conceded, but he was unable to stop gushing once he began. “But, shit, I cannot stop thinking about him. Like, I’ve never been so taken –haha, get it— with someone. I am so worried about him whenever he’s not in my immediate sight. I wanna cuddle him and kiss him so bad. He makes me so jealous, too, whenever he just looks at Sehun and now I think Kris might be his ex and that pisses me off so much!”

“Kris is his ex?” Jongdae squawked and lowered his voice then. “What the fuck, for real? Isn’t he a little too old for Baekhyun?”

“I wanna blurt out all of these things I like about him,” Chanyeol continued, undeterred and not mentioning how if Kris was too old for Baekhyun, Xiumin was too old for Jongdae. “I wanna learn everything there’s to learn about him. Did I tell you that since we’ve met, I literally haven’t thought of the Moon once unless I actually make myself think about it? Also, he just did this really amazing thing, a miracle I’d say, a feat of engineering—”

“—Backtrack just a second,” Kyungsoo interrupted as they watched Sehun go up towards the unclosed Taken portal. “Did you say you’re not thinking of the Moon?”

“Yeah!” Chanyeol confirmed with a happy grin. “Not at all!”

“Why would the Darkness stop… Calling?” Jongdae wondered. “I mean— we’re staring right at it. It isn’t exactly inactive.”

Contrary to popular belief, Chanyeol wasn’t dumb just because he was a Titan. He knew there had to be something more to the Darkness’s silence than just Baekhyun’s presence in his mind being enough to overtake it. Especially when the Taken were right here, trying to eat Io from the inside out. Especially when the Abyssal Champion that had been following them made an appearance. Especially when they didn’t even get a chance at shutting Irausk down when the Abyssal Champion took care of it for them with a single swing of his axe.

Especially when Baekhyun and Jongin weren’t answering. Especially when Baekhyun’s words when he did answer were so strange.

“ _I met **it** at the gate of the garden._” Baekhyun began, and Chanyeol’s stomach sank at the familiar vision it gave him. He started running back, not even caring about the Abyssal Champion.

“Baekhyun, what do you mean?” He asked urgently.

“ _And I recall **it** smiled at me before **it** devoured the blossoms with black flame and pinned their names across the sky_.” Baekhyun continued. Chanyeol ran faster.

“What is he saying?” Chanyeol demanded to the others, even if he already knew. “Baekhyun, are you alright?! Please, say that you are—”

“ _I fought **it** with aurora knives and with the stolen un-fire of singularities made sharp, and my sweat was earthquake, and my breath was static—_” Baekhyun sounded confused, muddled, as if he couldn’t quite believe his words. “— _but **it** was stronger, so how did I survive?_”

Chanyeol knew. Chanyeol was quite familiar with **_it_**.

He kept this to himself. He didn’t want to think about the implications of this. Of why Rasputin would attack Baekhyun at all, and why his mind was trying so hard to convince Chanyeol that that hadn’t been what happened, when Chanyeol knew it was. The Darkness was hardly subtle.

It only fuelled Chanyeol further. He wanted to help Baekhyun. He was certain something was wrong. He wanted to tell Baekhyun how he felt. Make him feel cared for.

He had tried. Baekhyun had laughed at him until Chanyeol had felt it had been the worst idea in the world. And then, Baekhyun just _had_ to cup his cheeks with his bare hands, rub his thumb over Chanyeol’s jaw, and smile.

“I really am sorry for being mean,” Baekhyun’s voice was the gentlest the Titan had the pleasure of hearing it be. It made his toes curl in his boots, and his hands twitch to be on Baekhyun’s hips, but he held himself back, scared of more rejection. “And I’m sorry I can’t let you do this right now.”

“Why not, though?” Chanyeol asked immediately, upset. He couldn’t even look at Baekhyun directly. “What’s there to lose? I know we both like each other!”

They had to. Chanyeol couldn’t possibly feel this passionately on his own. He felt it in his bones— how Baekhyun reciprocated in the smallest ways. The attraction was undeniable and if Baekhyun dared to say otherwise, Chanyeol’s heart would be broken forever.

“We do.” Baekhyun admitted, and only then Chanyeol looked up.

He almost wished he never had seen those stars. He had stared at enough Taken in his lifetime to know that eerie black glow. He had been in the Hellmouth enough to recognise the signs of the Darkness in someone.

It was almost as if all the pieces of a puzzle he wasn’t aware he was solving were coming together. Baekhyun was sick. Baekhyun wasn’t an enigma. Baekhyun wasn’t naturally erratic. Maybe he wasn’t even closed off.

Baekhyun had the Darkness in his heart. Chanyeol knew all too well how that felt.

He wasn’t about to let Baekhyun die, though. Now, there was more on the line than his own pride and glory, defeating Ghaul, and reclaiming the City— there was Baekhyun, and getting to know Baekhyun, the real one, the one who didn’t talk to disembodied voices or dosed off or wasn’t half-absent or didn’t hide from Chanyeol or didn’t yell at him during strange mood swings.

Baekhyun was the only person Chanyeol had met that wasn’t bowing to him due to his power— or had power of his own. Baekhyun genuinely liked Chanyeol for Chanyeol himself. Chanyeol, almost compulsively and not only for Baekhyun but for himself, wanted to show him he could be the Guardian Baekhyun deserved.

Baekhyun wasn’t cryptic— but he was probably lost in a maze. It only made Chanyeol fall a little bit harder.

Baekhyun was great company. Even when he was upset or trying to hurt Chanyeol.

Chanyeol wondered, as he carried a collapsed Baekhyun up back to their camp from the Cradle, huffing and puffing, if the reason the Darkness had been so silent was because it had found a different way to attract Chanyeol— through Baekhyun. If it didn’t need to send any strange visions any longer, because Baekhyun was right there, pulling Chanyeol like a magnet.

As everyone else fluttered over Baekhyun and he had to physically push people away, as Luhan expertly lied and Chanyeol hated the Warlock a little bit more, as he sat there wallowing in self-hatred and anger over Baekhyun’s harsh words, he had to wonder—

Did he really care for Baekhyun? Or was he truly a mindless puppet for the Light? A Light that had abandoned him so easily. Was this why he allowed Baekhyun to lie straight to his face? Why he grinned and bared it?

“I know you better than anyone else, Chanyeol,” Toben muttered rapidly, so they wouldn’t be heard. The Ghost was angry, but he would never lie to Chanyeol. “And I’m— ugh! So mad at Baekhyun right now! How could he say that? Especially after you confessed!”

“But what if it isn’t real, Toben?” Chanyeol whispered harshly, devastated at his own doubts. “What if I don’t actually care for Baekhyun? What if this is just a ploy—”

“—That’s exactly my point!” Toben interrupted, louder this time. “Oh no, you really do care for him. I’ve seen you hypnotised by Darkness and I’ve seen you hypnotised by Baekhyun. It _isn’t_ the same thing. If anything, I think _this_ might be the ploy!”

Chanyeol frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Can’t you tell?” Toben questioned, and then sighed dramatically. “Mongryong, please, explain it to him.”

Mongryong had been lying on Baekhyun’s neck, curled up like a new-born kitten the whole time, silently listening. The not-quite-AI was cheery when it spoke: “Sadly, Friendly Ghost Toben, I cannot! My Captain has made full use of my security measures to keep his secrets from being exposed by me, even if his life was in danger!”

Chanyeol slumped within himself by Baekhyun’s body covered with a blanket, the scavenger seemingly peacefully asleep.

“However,” Mongryong began again, merry. “I’m happy to announce that my free will module is off the charts! Therefore, I will heavily imply that if _I_ was trying to drive a Captain towards insanity as The Darkness often seems to do, I would do all that is possible to drive away those who genuinely care for him away! In isolation, the Captain would succumb very easily!”

And then Kris and his Ghost were coming to sit with Chanyeol, Toben, and Mongryong. Then Sehun was silently making his bed on the entrance of the Häkke Vimana, in a wordless sort of protection ward. Kris looked apologetic. He implied feeling sorry for what he had done. As a further stretch of friendship towards Chanyeol, the Hunter Vanguard then began revealing things about Baekhyun. Sehun pretended to sleep.

Chanyeol hung unto his every word. It was easy to realise that— yeah. Maybe it wasn’t him that the Darkness was toying with. Maybe it was Baekhyun who was being toyed with, and Chanyeol was collateral damage.

Chanyeol had a different path, after all. His enemy was Dominus Ghaul, while Baekhyun— the scavenger was probably only along for the ride in order to save himself from the infection. His feelings for Baekhyun were intense, but they weren’t a lie. And Kris only confirmed Baekhyun was probably feeling the same way.

Hope was renewed, but anger and hurt simmered under Chanyeol’s skin. Until Baekhyun opened his eyes at last.

“Was I really that awful to you?”

Baekhyun was confused. Baekhyun was lost. Baekhyun was bearing himself to Chanyeol.

“I think I’m really starting to lose my grip on reality,” Baekhyun admitted sincerely, and Chanyeol thought as his heart cracked— _he doesn’t realise he’s crying_. “I’m really starting to doubt that when I speak, it’s me who’s speaking. That when I think, it’s me who’s actually thinking. My mind is just… It’s just so crowded in here, Chanyeol.”

Baekhyun seemed so tiny, so helpless, even if he slowly seemed to regain his footing and his cheerfulness. The Titan’s resolve to be mad at Baekhyun was dissolving so quickly, it was almost laughable. When he found himself touching Baekhyun’s chin, making him look at him, the stars in his eyes weren’t so awful.

He made promises he was uncertain he would keep. He would put his life on the line to protect Baekhyun, however. Their paths were different, and Dominus Ghaul was Chanyeol’s priority, helping Baekhyun and gaining him in the end— well. It was just two birds with one stone.

It was so natural to just lay down with Baekhyun and pull him close. It was so natural to speak with him about his insecurities, reignited by Baekhyun’s earlier words and now soothed by that very same pretty, pretty voice. Baekhyun made him feel everything there was to feel. No emotion went untouched.

“I want to tell you that you’re really confusing,” Chanyeol whispered, burying his nose in Baekhyun’s pretty silver hair. It genuinely did have a hint of strawberries. “I don’t have words for you. And I’m still mad.”

“It keeps you on your toes, doesn’t it?” Baekhyun quipped. He remained silent after that, until a couple of minutes had passed. “I confuse myself, too.”

Chanyeol pulled him closer, held him tighter. He drifted off to sleep, happy that the man was safe in his arms.

“You’re telling me a bad joke,” Jongdae deadpanned. “Are you for real, Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol, despite his friend’s somewhat harsh words, kept his embarrassed flush to a minimum. “Yes. I am for real. Why wouldn’t I be for real?”

Baekhyun had the Darkness within him. The only thing that could counter the Darkness effectively was the Light. The next best thing, at the lack of the Traveller and its direct blessing, was their very own Light. Chanyeol’s Light, specifically.

Chanyeol couldn’t tap into it— but he could feel the familiar heat simmering under his skin, nonetheless. It was there. He just needed a little push, something that would allow him to give it to Baekhyun.

“You can’t.” Jongdae shot him down instantly, raising an eyebrow at the way Chanyeol’s expression fell. “You couldn’t even if you tried.”

“Then I’ll do it.” Kyungsoo offered easily. Jongdae actually snorted, making the smaller Titan frown. “What?”

Jongdae had been like this from the moment Chanyeol had gotten into the Arrowhawk, on their way to Earth— ominously announcing that the three Kingslayers needed to talk. The Warlock hadn’t been surprised at the news of Baekhyun’s infection— he had already known and was upset Baekhyun was probably getting _help_ from Luhan. The man was also unimpressed with Chanyeol’s plan of giving Baekhyun his Light.

“Neither of you could do such a transfer,” Jongdae claimed with decision as they crossed the portal. “All you do is punch things and hope Light reacts.”

“I resent the implication that we don’t understand our Light just because we’re Titans.” Kyungsoo declared. Jongdae rolled his eyes, crying out loudly in exasperation.

“Please!” The Warlock exclaimed. “When was the last time you got out of any situation without shooting or beating the shit out of someone, _without_ Ink or Toben helping?”

Kyungsoo remained quiet, though scowling. Over his shoulder, Ink hummed.

“It is true,” The taciturn drone conceded. “I solve most of our conundrums through my wits.”

“I don’t think you’ve thought through the risks of doing something like giving away your remaining Light to Mr. Lying Liar Who Lies,” Toben grumbled. He didn’t like Baekhyun much. “He’s unhinged, Chanyeol.”

“He’s a little bit unstable because of the Darkness,” Chanyeol corrected his Ghost a bit heatedly. He turned to his friends. “Look. We never got to speak about that Las Vegas mission you guys had. What was so strange about it?”

“The Taken were different than usual,” Kyungsoo instantly relayed. “They were stronger. Ink and Pepper didn’t immediately tag them as Taken, either. And now their leader is following us –or Baekhyun— around the System.”

“Why would the Darkness go through such an effort to get one guy?” Jongdae wondered thoughtfully. “What has Baekhyun done that could be so special?”

“It was Seungri, right?” Chanyeol prodded further. “The name of the guy you had to retrieve.”

“One of them, yeah,” Kyungsoo replied. “The leader, actually. Why?”

“I think Baekhyun had something to do with it,” Chanyeol revealed, much to their shock. “Kris— yesterday he told me Seungri basically killed Baekhyun’s grandparents. And Baekhyun was stranded in the Moon a couple of months ago, he told us in Nessus. He keeps mentioning revenge isn’t his style, like he’s trying to protect himself. It’s only a suspicion, but—”

“—Okay. Let’s go with the idea that he did it out of revenge,” Jongdae suggested, following Chanyeol's train of thought. “How? How did he manage to Take someone like Seungri?”

“He must’ve found a way for the infection to— work in his favour?” Kyungsoo posed with a frown. “Maybe that’s why the Darkness wants to find him.”

“Whatever it is, he’s way in over his head,” Chanyeol concluded, looking directly at Toben then. “Didn’t you raise me to help others? To protect Humanity from this very enemy? Last time I checked, Baekhyun is a human and needs help. I’m willing to make the sacrifice.”

“But Chen is right!” Toben argued. “You don’t know how to transfer Light, and honestly, it’s a little above my pay grade at the moment! Without the Traveller’s connection, I can’t—”

“—I’m not asking you to, Toben,” Chanyeol countered a bit forcefully. “But I’m not leaving Baekhyun like this. If word gets out about just this thing, he’s getting exiled or killed.”

“And _we_ won’t leave him like this.” Jongdae reminded him gently, pensive. He paused for a moment, and then added: “I’ll do it.”

“ _What_?” Pepper suddenly sobbed, distraught. “No! Chen, no! Byun was never chosen. _You_ were chosen. Please, if you transfer your Light and something happens to you, I—”

“It’s not up for discussion, Pepper.” Jongdae said— he didn’t have to raise his voice. In fact, it was the softest it had been so far. “I’m a man of my word. I promised Baekhyun I would protect him. I will do it.”

Pepper only cried quietly but didn’t protest further than that. This was breaking her heart. Chanyeol felt guilty, yet at the same time, a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

“Jongdae,” He called seriously, and made sure their eyes met. “Thank you.”

Jongdae smirked at him, the corners of his lips curling up like a cat’s.

Things had gotten out of hand after that. As they flew in a heavy silence, Baekhyun began calling for his brother and revealed what he had heard from the Cabal. While there had been nothing to worry about at first, the Farm was missing— and then Baekhyun’s Häkke Vimana was involved in a high-speed chase with Threshers. Just when Chanyeol thought they would all be out of the woods, Baekhyun had flown right into the Firebase, and then, all contact had been lost.

Jongdae’s Arrowhawk had been the first one to arrive at the Farm, but there was no time to exchange pleasantries. Kyungsoo and Chanyeol transmatted to the ground before Jongdae could even land properly, and Baekbeom was gesturing them towards the hangar. Tao was there, already mounting a sparrow, determined and silent.

“Can’t I fucking trust you with my brother for five minutes?” The older Byun wondered angrily. “I just talked to Kai and we have a location on Baekhyun’s tracker. Get on.”

“I thought you didn’t like to make noise into Trostland.” Chanyeol found himself saying somewhat nonsensically. Baekbeom levelled him with an intense expression, and there it was again— he was Baekhyun’s brother, alright.

“That’s Baekhyun’s problem,” Baekbeom retorted, his own personal sparrow —a beautiful Timberwolf with bright green leaf motives— roaring to life. “I will make the whole EDZ look at me if I have to.”

Baekbeom drove too fast. So fast, Chanyeol’s lowly Moonrider Zero had trouble keeping up. It seemed like the man could only focus on Baekhyun’s well-being when it was compromised. From what Chanyeol understood, it was as if Baekbeom and Baekhyun had only had each other for a while. With how they hugged when they were reunited, Chanyeol only confirmed this.

Baekhyun, broken and desperate for reasons unknown, only made Chanyeol want to protect him more. Even as Kyungsoo muttered that something was wrong with Jongin, even as Suho gave them orders and Jongdae immediately saw a chance for them to put their plan in motion, even as Yixing came for Baekhyun at night and implied Baekhyun was responsible for even worse crimes than maybe getting rid of Seungri— Chanyeol could only think of saving him.

It was worth it, Chanyeol thought, as they laid in Baekhyun’s bed together. Baekhyun didn’t care Chanyeol wasn’t anyone outside of being a Guardian. Baekhyun found comfort in Chanyeol, and Chanyeol found it in Baekhyun. He could only promise to keep Baekhyun safe in a whisper, even if the other man slipped out of his arms— it didn’t matter, because Baekhyun had come back, snuggling into Chanyeol’s space.

“I know you will keep me safe,” The scavenger whispered, almost non-sequitur, as Chanyeol pretended to be asleep. “My Guardian.”

This was love. Chanyeol was certain. And as all the missing pieces of Baekhyun’s past came together for a tale of the Darkness, Nightmares, and the Nine— Chanyeol couldn’t find himself regretting this part, either.

Trostland had probably been a nice place to live in. Chanyeol, as they stared into the imminent counterattack against the Red Legion, couldn’t get away from it fast enough.

It was all coming together. With Sungwoo’s and his reinforcements’ arrival, there was no way they wouldn’t have the firepower required for a good ambush on the Last City. With a newly found Vanguard, Chanyeol saw renewed hope in the Guardians that surrounded him. With a new weapon in his arsenal, Chanyeol felt more than ready to take Sehun to face off with Dominus Ghaul.

However, there was one tiny thing.

“I think,” The Titan began with Jongdae and Kyungsoo as they tested their new guns in the woods, away from others. “That the Nine may have forced Baekhyun into having something to do with the invasion.”

Jongdae and Kyungsoo both looked up at him but seemed mostly resigned. Jongin, further away from them and chatting animatedly with an unenthusiastic Monggu about his Outbreak Perfected, remained unaware.

“You got that idea, too?” Kyungsoo asked with a sigh.

“Lay came in last night to the room,” Chanyeol confessed in a low voice, so Jongin wouldn’t overhear them. “Confronted Baekhyun over something— but Tao was there, and I was there, so they spoke in code. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out, though, after what he told us today.”

“I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility,” Jongdae mumbled, somewhat dejected. “What else was gonna guarantee the Nine access to the Traveller’s Light? Ghaul’s plans fall perfectly with theirs.”

“It gets worse,” Chanyeol continued. “Sungwoo’s the Dead Orbit guy. Lucas is the minion.”

“Those motherfuckers,” Kyungsoo grumbled. “You know, in the Burning Sun reports, it did say it was Lucas Wong who had given them the tip on that Fallen colony.”

“Don’t you keep getting the feeling that the Last City and the Vanguard are way more sordid than we previously thought?” Jongdae wondered aloud. “Remember when we found that Cabal spy in the Crucible? The one Jongin killed.”

“Lord Donghae didn’t even bat an eyelash,” Kyungsoo reminisced. “And we didn’t really follow up.”

“Is really all of this worth saving?” Jongdae questioned, in a rare moment of self-doubt. “I mean, we too do whatever we want— sometimes we go too far. Like today. Pepper is still upset. Are we on the right side?”

It was Chanyeol who slapped the back of Jongdae’s head, before Kyungsoo got the chance to.

“This is the side that saves the Last City and kills Dominus Ghaul,” Chanyeol reminded them resolutely. “And the side that chose us from the dead. The people of the City aren’t at fault for the shortcomings of Guardians. We’re the ones who need to do better.”

This is the side that saves Baekhyun, he whispered to himself.

He gestured to the rifle in his hands. It was rusted, with wires exposed, hazardously put together, yet powered by a Photonic Heart.

“Us four right here? We’re like the barrels of my Cerberus Plus One right here,” He mused, a little bit more cheerful. Jongin was coming to them, still excited, with a soft smile on his face. When Chanyeol looked at Jongin, at Kai, he often saw the future. “Maybe we’re a little bit messy. But we’re crazy powerful together.”

He shot at a nearby tree trunk to prove his point. It exploded into a thousand pieces.

Baekhyun’s lips were as sweet as he had imagined.

It was almost cruel of Baekhyun, Chanyeol thought during that night, as he fumbled to drag his shirt over his head too quickly, to give him a taste when nothing was certain anymore. But Chanyeol would take what he could get, painful and rushed and desperate as it may would have to be.

There was nothing like holding Baekhyun, be it for a dance to a song that would haunt Chanyeol’s immortality if he didn’t get to spend at least a fraction of it with Baekhyun himself or be it in a unique throe of passion he was unsure he would get to experience ever again.

They couldn’t even do all the things Chanyeol hadn’t even realised he had wished they did, and that now his hands itched to play out. It was almost juvenile, just undressing Baekhyun and himself for the pleasure of it, moving against him, kissing him until his lips hurt, until they spent themselves. Chanyeol found himself admiring Baekhyun in the soft light of his room with reverence, a knot lodged in his throat and not allowing him to speak in anything that wasn’t grunts or moans.

As Chanyeol panted his way down from his high, as he pulled Baekhyun close and wished to keep from the world, he nearly cried. Why, just oh why, couldn’t he have met Baekhyun earlier? Why did destiny hand Chanyeol something so precious as what Baekhyun made him feel for so little time?

It had only been three weeks, and perhaps living through an apocalypse together made things more intense than they truly were. Chanyeol felt it wasn’t the case. It was as if he had been waiting for Baekhyun for a thousand years, and now that he had him, he would have to let him go and hope for the best.

Chanyeol had a hard time believing this was his present.

Even if their attack went as planned, a wrench had been thrown in. Chanyeol should’ve known Lay wouldn’t leave things in a cryptic confrontation— he knew better. The Hunter was legendary and got rid of unsavoury characters for the Vanguard constantly. He only wanted to protect Baekhyun and had left him exposed alone with the only man who knew the scavenger’s secrets— and who didn’t care to save him.

Chanyeol, Jongdae, and Kyungsoo surrounded Baekhyun without even speaking about it. As confessions unravelled, as secrets were revealed, as Sehun’s anger rose and rose, Chanyeol had felt confident. As Baekhyun fumbled to explain himself, remorseful, he felt confident. But then—

“—Because I’m the Darkness’ Chosen,” Baekhyun realised anti-climatically. “Oh, fuck.”

Chanyeol stopped. Wait, what? No. That wasn’t—

“This was always meant to happen,” Baekhyun just kept going, as Chanyeol was already ready to immobilise him as best as he could, even if he hadn’t made his move yet. “I was always meant to kill you.”

“No— you’re supposed to heal—” Chanyeol struggled, surprised at Baekhyun’s strength when shoving him off. They shared one last look.

And then there was chaos.

It was as if Baekhyun dashed in two different directions at the same time. Sehun and Lay lunged for one, and Chanyeol dashed to stop them, while Tao screamed, Jongin collapsing in confusion and Kyungsoo tending to his young lover, and Jongdae just seemed lost. Baekhyun snarled in Sehun’s and Lay’s hold, and when Chanyeol got a good look at his face, it was— uncanny. But something was off. He immediately stopped struggling with the Hunters, watching with wide eyes.

“I am!” The Baekhyun in their arms didn’t even attempt to escape. He merely screamed. “I am, by the only standard that matters or will _ever_ matter, the winning team!”

“Shut the fuck up.” Sehun spat, uncharacteristically rageful. Baekhyun merely cackled, and Chanyeol realised— this— this had to be the Nightmare. The imitations of life that tortured Baekhyun. The worst one, of course, would be one of himself.

“Existence is a test, Sehun Oh, and most of us will fail!” Not-Baekhyun warned, giddy yet wicked. “Would you not count yourself among the victorious few?”

And then, Thumos’s ship was leaving the landing pad, and Chanyeol banged on its sides, screaming for the real Baekhyun. Not-Baekhyun cheered as Sehun instantly dropped him and Lay examined the creature with critical, curious eyes.

“ _I’ll make this right. The Almighty’s mine._ ” Baekhyun transmitted through their comms.

“I can’t trust you, Baekhyun!” Sehun screamed, voice raw with pain and rage. How— had Chanyeol missed just how much Sehun relied on Baekhyun? “You’ve ruined everything! You’ve ruined us!”

“ _Trust me this one last time, Sehun. I’m sorry._ ”

The Nightmare had an aura that shone scarlet. He had the very same silver hair, but his eyes were so starry that they were an unnatural blue instead. The scratch on his cheek was the very same as the one Baekhyun had that refused to fully heal. It had long nails, though, perforating the tips of his gloves like claws. The deranged yet calculated expression in his face made not-Baekhyun dangerous. They were all suddenly petrified, staring at this— Nightmare.

“You all are the gardener’s final argument,” Not-Baekhyun spoke, but his existence was already starting to fade, as if he was a phantom. “This is the final wager for your Light.”

They remained in silence, stunned, as Baekhyun flew away and not-Baekhyun disappeared completely. They must’ve been there ten minutes, not doing a single thing, before Chanyeol took a deep breath. He ran into the Threshers they had hijacked, certain that those who mattered would follow.

They all followed.

Getting into the Thresher, meant for military transportation, was easy and gave them a lot of leg room. Jongdae was the one who sent a transmission to Suho, not alerting the Vanguard just yet: “Everything’s going according to plan, Commander. We’re moving into the City now. You can track Thumos’s stolen ship’s trajectory pretty clearly.”

“ _Copy that, Guardians,_ ” Suho sounded proud and relieved. “ _We’ll see each other in the Walls. Be brave._ ”

“Be brave,” Jongdae replied in tandem. He fiddled with some other commands in the console in silence, receiving error after error. Tao, their designated pilot, was silent, but at least, he wasn’t crying. “Baekhyun’s blocking out all communications.”

“Of course he is,” Lay muttered, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Do you realise what you’ve done? He’s gonna betray us again. This whole thing could be a disaster.”

None of the Kingslayers found the words just yet. Chanyeol felt conflicted, while Kyungsoo and Jongdae were probably the same. It was one thing to ponder the possibility that Baekhyun was involved in the invasion— it was another thing to hear it directly from him.

“It won’t be.” Tao spoke calmly. The Warlock didn’t look at any of them, but he could probably feel their questioning eyes. “Clearly, communicating between ourselves would’ve done us good. But we can’t pretend we didn’t know something was wrong from the start.”

“If it was wrong from the start, then how is it gonna be alright now?” Jongin mumbled out weakly.

“Well,” Tao mused. “It’d certainly be a _lot_ easier to answer that question if we had all the information, Kai.” 

“We’ve got a bit of explaining to do,” Jongdae admitted. “So, let’s get right to it, okay?”

And they did. Chanyeol, Kyungsoo, and Jongdae confessed to everything they knew that had drove Baekhyun to this moment— from an unassuming mission to the Moon and the Nightmares, and the deals with the Nine that resulted in allowing the Red Legion into the Last City.

Sharing Baekhyun’s suffering with the rest turned out to be a good thing. Lay relayed to them what he had seen on the day of the invasion –Jongok killing her Ghost— and how he hadn’t dared to check it until he confronted Baekhyun. So Baekhyun had probably tortured Jongok into submission, and driven her to insanity in the process, which explained her erratic behaviour in Io.

Jongin, in a thread of voice, remarked that he had lied in Io— that Rasputin had directly warned them over Baekhyun, but that Jongin had chosen to keep that information to himself. That now, he could remember he had survived the wreckage of the Häkke Vimana through a well-timed jump, and that he had found Baekhyun’s broken body recomposing itself in unnatural ways. How Baekhyun had manipulated him into believing Jongin had been his saviour, explaining his tear-stricken state.

Sehun was able to thread through the multiple visions he had had of Baekhyun with the help of the new information and Tao’s patient prodding. He had seen Baekhyun making deals with the Nine. He had seen a child Baekhyun aching to be like them. He had seen Baekhyun and he speaking in a garden Sehun had never visited. And now he knew it was the Light warning him as well, alerting him of how he could help Baekhyun.

“What is even going to stop Baekhyun from leaving us hanging?” Sehun questioned, looking in the verge of tears, making a face to be able to stop. “How can I know he won’t—”

“—Because he has everything to lose, Sehun,” Chanyeol interrupted the young Hunter. The Traveller’s Chosen needed guidance— support. Chanyeol wondered of all the ways he could’ve been clearer in his intentions to help Sehun to the best of his Lightless abilities. He had been so wrapped up in Baekhyun, he had forgotten to tell Sehun he was there for him. “The Last City is his home. You don’t have to forgive him— but you need to trust him one last time.”

“He was the only one who believed in me,” Sehun confessed quietly. “What— what will I do without him?”

“Oh, come off this teenage angst right now!” Tao yelled, angry. He turned to Sehun with a scowl, and Sehun immediately looked chastised. “What am I? Chopped liver? I believe in you, Sehun! I always have!”

“I’ll admit I haven’t been the most supportive friend and roommate, Sehun,” Jongin began, sitting up straighter. “But I’ve seen what you can do— and there’s no doubt in my mind you’ll do this.”

“I was so happy and hopeful when Baekhyun brought you to us,” Lay was the next one to admit. “And to have the Traveller’s Chosen be a Hunter— you’re a source of pride, Sehun Oh. Maybe we should’ve told you.”

“I was so jealous of you,” Chanyeol confessed earnestly. “So angry at you at first. I’ve been called a hero so many times, but this whole ordeal— I’ve realised one adventure or two isn’t enough to make you one. Slaying a god for no reason is alright, but you know what’s better?”

“What is?” Sehun humoured him, still somewhat wary.

“Restoring the Light,” Chanyeol answered with finality. “Saving the Last City. Getting rid of the Cabal who began this Red War in the first place. And that’s you, Sehun. We should’ve been just as vocal with our support as Baekhyun was.”

Sehun clenched his jaw. His eyes were still dark with tears, but he looked more determined now.

Kyungsoo pointed to the tracker.

“Look— headed straight for the Almighty.” The Titan remarked. “I won’t pretend you still don’t need to impress me, Sehun. But do us all a favour, and trust Baekhyun to do the right thing— just like he trusted you.”

Forgiveness would come later for Baekhyun, in their own time. At best, it would be soon. At worst, never. However, at least the Guardians in this Thresher were united around a single goal at last. Sehun finally looked certain, and he nodded, though he didn’t add another word.

The five hours that remained to get to the Last City, Chanyeol attempted to communicate with Baekhyun multiple times. Toben, taking pity on his Guardian, finally resolved on helping him— he connected to Mongryong’s personal channel.

The conversation they shared was extremely brief and extremely bizarre.

“ _The Captain is on a journey of self-discovery,_ _Friendly Ghost Toben,_ ” The not-quite-Ghost revealed. “ _As soon as he gets back— I’ll have him talk to you._ ”

Chanyeol would just have to wait and imagine all the ways he would try to kill Dominus Ghaul once they were in front of him.

When they were nearing the Last City’s perimeter, Sehun slid down next to Chanyeol. Neither of them talked at first, unsure of what to say. Eventually, Chanyeol decided to begin.

“Kingslayer,” He recited monotonously for an impassive yet attentive Sehun. “Crota’s End. Cleanser of the Black Garden. Young Wolf. Sunbreaker. Titan. Guardian.”

Sehun allowed Chanyeol to continue with his point without saying a word.

“Those are all the titles I’ve earned,” Chanyeol explained. “It used to feel— they used to give me purpose. Identity. You said that earlier. It rang true, you know?”

“I’m sorry.”

“What for?” Chanyeol asked. He shrugged. “With Baekhyun it doesn’t matter. I’ve done those things, but I’m not those things. I’m just… Chanyeol.”

“You really like him, huh.” Sehun said, rather than ask. Chanyeol hummed and nodded.

“Terribly so,” Chanyeol replied. “But that’s not the point. You know, I’m nothing like you. I’ve never gotten a single vision or hint from the Traveller. Not a word, not an image, not an intuition. Nothing. All I’ve gotten, in my whole life as a Guardian, is silence.”

Sehun nodded in understanding. However, he was frowning, as if he was uncertain or sad over Chanyeol’s words.

“You know who keeps calling, though? How I managed my way into the Black Garden? Killed Crota and Oryx?” Chanyeol posed the questions and waited for Sehun’s quiet ‘no’ to continue. “The Darkness.”

Sehun stared at Chanyeol, but he remained silent.

“This Light and Darkness thing is beyond us,” Chanyeol remembered Baekhyun’s harsh words in Io. “We’re guns in a cosmic war, and guns don’t stop and wonder if it’s a little bit more complicated than black and white.”

The Titan gestured to the ship around them, filled with Cabal technology.

“But this?” Chanyeol said, making a face of disgust and anger. “This Dominus Ghaul? He did something much more practical. He robbed us all of our home. He has driven Humanity out of its only safe haven. Traveller or no Traveller, Light or no Light, the people need us. So what if he had a little help? He’ll get what he wants and just blow up our system, just like he’s done with a hundred worlds before ours.”

Sehun was thoughtful. Chanyeol continued.

“It was Baekhyun who called you Traveller’s Chosen,” The Titan finished. “But you’re _his_ Chosen. The Light— it’s an incredible thing. It’s life. We need you to remind us of how to live majestically, Sehun.”

“We will do this, Chanyeol,” Sehun finally answered. “Together.”

They were almost to the City.

The Sun was unbearably hot. It was, to be honest, an expected problem.

“So— consent, Mongryong,” Baekhyun was already panting, but that maybe had to do with how he was fretting all around Thumos’s ship rather than the heat. “Consent is when you give permission for something to happen. Do you get that?”

“I do, Captain!” Mongryong chirped with excitement, as the little drone made Thumos’s ship dive down into one of the gigantic plasma tubes of the Almighty. The Almighty was an impressive craft— about as large as the Traveller itself, Baekhyun gauged.

The Two-Tailed Fox, check. The SUROS Regime, check. A non-descript Cadenza-11, check. Izanagi’s Burden, check. Each weapon was placed in Mongryong’s designated transmatting zone and disappeared into his little weird Ghost dimension where he kept things, until Baekhyun was left with only the Ace of Spades and a cube so black it absorbed all light.

“Consent is extremely important, Mongryong,” Baekhyun lectured, as he turned on his comm for the first time in hours, but on a lower volume than usual. “It’s an active agreement, it can’t be assumed, it shows respect for autonomy, and it’s just nice to ask. Consent is great! It’s so great, even the _Darkness_ asks for consent! Don’t you, Darkness?”

The Darkness didn’t reply. It was also expected.

“Coming up on Starboard Landing, Captain!” Mongryong answered instead.

“You can’t just install control modules in people while they sleep, Mongryong!” Baekhyun continued sternly as he fitted his Tao-issued helmet on and prepared for transmat with only his hand cannon. Without his poncho, he felt naked— but also, it was scorching hot. “I won’t say it wasn’t useful, because it was, and I’m sure it’s gonna continue to be useful, but what did it hurt to ask?”

“I was following my Exodus Black protocol guidelines!” Mongryong defended himself cheerfully. “Guardian Chanyeol is attempting to contact you, Captain. Shall I _consent_ to that?”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, trying to ignore how his heart leaped out of his chest at the mention of the Titan. “Yes. Consent. Definitely consent to that.”

There was a bit of crackling static. Then, Chanyeol’s voice came through right into Baekhyun’s ear, and the scavenger relaxed just a little.

“ _Baekhyun?_ ” The Guardian called. He sounded worried, upset, and relieved all at once, throwing Baekhyun’s head off to a spin. However, he was also talking in a low voice, as if afraid he would be heard. “ _Fucking finally. What’s your status?_ ”

Baekhyun made a signal to Mongryong. Mongryong understood, and they transmatted down towards the landing.

“I’m at the Almighty,” Baekhyun relayed, as he examined his surroundings. The craft’s weapon was already active— the fuel stream underneath the bridge he was standing on moving far too quickly. “What about you, baby?”

Chanyeol choked at the pet name. Baekhyun wished he could see it, but he still grinned to himself, silly.

“ _We’re about to meet the others and shock them to death when they see Sehun’s with us instead of you_.”

“How is he?”

“ _Coming to terms with it._ ” Chanyeol replied succinctly. “ _Listen. You’re not allowed to die up there. I think I—_ ”

“—No, don’t say it.” Baekhyun stopped the Titan before he could even continue, even if his heart hammered, as he moved down the bridge to follow the fuel stream. No Cabal soldiers around yet— they would be here soon. “Leave it for our first date, okay?”

“ _Second date, actually,_ ” Chanyeol corrected, amused. “ _Remember the Cradle of Io?_ ”

“Like it was three days ago,” Baekhyun sighed dreamily. “But— for what’s it worth— me too, Chanyeol.”

“ _Don’t you dare say it, either,_ ” Chanyeol warned, though he was probably grinning. “ _We’ll make plans when you get back here. Don’t die._ ”

“Don’t die.” Baekhyun reciprocated, feeling invigorated. “Now— I have a Sun death ray to disable.”

The channel remained open. Baekhyun was uncertain that once Chanyeol and the others were with the Vanguard, he would get contacted again— hopefully not with questions he had no answers to. Speaking to Chanyeol once more only fuelled him further, and as Mongryong and he power walked through the bridge, Baekhyun held onto the cube on his belt.

“Ready, Mongryong?”

“ _Ready as I’ll ever be, Captain!_ ”

Baekhyun opened the cube, this time out of his own accord. He opened it as far as it would go, and then further, until his hands trembled with the strength required to snap the box in two pieces, rendering it useless.

The surge of power, and yet of lack of control, was overwhelming and instantaneous. Right in front him, in a flurry of scarlet smoke and then void neurites, the Abyssal Champion materialised right in front of him once more. This time, what seemed like a hundred of scarlet shadows of different shapes and sizes, manifested with it.

Baekhyun found himself already struggling, already breathing heavily, as the Darkness spread. He met the vacant expression of the Nightmare, however, and nodded at it.

“Destroy everything that gets in your way.” Baekhyun commanded. The Abyssal Champion let out a roar, happy to finally deliver the destruction it had always craved.

It moved more slowly than Baekhyun, but the phantoms ran with him. Slowly, they began to take the shapes of Cabal soldiers, and Baekhyun grinned at the chaos this would cause.

It was a massacre. Threshers had found Baekhyun and his strange army in the middle of the bridge, as he pulled down on a lever that began turning the ledge towards the other side over the fuel stream and would take him, according to his tracker, to a way into the central core of the Almighty. Baekhyun shot at a couple of War Beasts as they tried to jump at him, but even if he tried, the Nightmare Gladiators of his imagination were ruthless— rushing to meet the Red Legion Cabal and tear them to pieces, slashing through them with their swords of Darkness.

Baekhyun managed to make it inside the ship, to a cramped hall that he was uncertain the Abyssal Champion could follow him through. The Abyssal Champion didn’t bother itself with wondering— Baekhyun watched as it ripped itself an entrance, cutting through metal like it was butter with his axe.

“Damn, okay.” Baekhyun mumbled in awe at it, as the crowd of his own doing moved and led him like a tide to what resembled a cave. There was a tunnel down a gigantic machine, but it was clogged with debris. Mongryong pointed out in his tracker a little room on the other side of the cave.

“ _We are in the Mineral Processing section of the Almighty, Captain,_ ” The not-quite-AI informed him as Baekhyun ran through the Mercurian dirt and debris towards the room. “ _If we power this enormous shredder, we can make a path!_ ”

Inside the room, Baekhyun spotted fusion cells, hot and bright. “ _Oh! Those are radioactive and unstable, Captain! I wouldn’t advice manipulating them in any way!_ ”

Baekhyun was startled by an alarm going off throughout the ship. Behind him, he could hear the Abyssal Champion roar, and the Nightmares of Cabal soldiers scream, as a large group of actual Cabal soldiers came through the door. Baekhyun looked down at his hands. They were already sparking neurites.

“Yeah,” Baekhyun acquiesced, and moved to grab the fusion cell anyway. It was unbearably hot, just like everything here, and it burnt him. But Baekhyun didn’t let go of it, until he found the access port for the cell and pushed it in. “I don’t really think it matters how much radiation I take, Mongryong.”

“ _How grim!_ ”

The shredder began to work, slowly but surely, and Baekhyun entertained himself with watching his Nightmares and his Abyssal Champion destroy the Cabal. A Bloodguard Centurion that Mongryong tagged as Purifier Vurst was valiantly fighting— too bad the Darkblade was three times his size. Baekhyun hummed instead.

“When did you learn to tag like that?” He asked Mongryong, as he now began to run down the working shredder and found the tunnel clear of dirt and rocks. He had to move fast, and the Nightmares cried out as they followed. The Abyssal Champion stopped the shredder with its bare hands, groaning.

“ _I have always been able to!_ ” Mongryong exclaimed proudly, if a bit sassily. “ _Isn’t it a useful, neat trick? You can see my tags thanks to the control module I installed in your neck, Captain— without your consent!_ ”

“You’re not letting me forget about that, are you?” The ore tunnels were tiny, and Nightmares changed shapes to fit, beginning to whisper and whimper as some of them clung to Baekhyun. Baekhyun allowed it. The Abyssal Champion made a lot of noise as it attempted to break through metal once more, but after a few moments of its struggle, Baekhyun willed it to dissipate. The stars moved further up his arms and legs, covering them.

There were artefacts inside these tunnels— things Baekhyun had only seen in Mercury. It was a strange sight, but he pushed through, and on the other side, Baekhyun came towards a platform with Cabal soldiers and a window into the Sun. He got to shoot one single Legionary, before the Nightmares descended upon the rest of them like rabid dogs.

Baekhyun looked outside. The trail of fuel continued through towards the central core— but he would have to step outside.

He summoned a shield of negative energy. The Darkness spread within him, but Baekhyun didn’t care.

“Keep yourself transmatted away, Mongryong.”

“ _We can do this, Captain!_ ”

The gates to the sunside opened, allowing the bare sunlight crashing relentlessly onto the Almighty. There were shadowed sentries all the way, and if Baekhyun thought things were unbearably hot, nothing could compare to this. His armour would have to be enough, if it didn’t melt right onto his face.

At least the shield was enough coverage for him, and light. He moved quickly, and shot at irregular intervals, unsure if he was being followed now or not. The sun exposure was bad for the Cabal there, too— some of them, he managed to mind-bend into approaching, stepping out from the shadows and into the direct solar radiation to die. Others, he manually shot in the head, delighting in the small Solar explosions he caused all on his own.

Sooner than he realised, he was on the opposite section, opening gates and out of the relentless sunside. Baekhyun’s shield dissipated, and he was left shaking. Nightmares flocked around him, taking human shapes as he stumbled, whispering to him in familiar voices.

He willed them to change shapes once more as he recuperated, albeit only slightly. He had to be quicker.

There were circular platforms for him to climb. Baekhyun groaned at the idea but got to work. Summoning the Abyssal Champion would do him in, with the amount of energy it took. Mongryong had to heal him just a little bit.

Wait. Baekhyun paused as he climbed. Heal?

“ _Healing is a subjective term, Captain,_ ” Mongryong provided happily. “ _I am merely injecting some energy into you, so you don’t prematurely collapse and die! Through the control module you did not consent to!_ ”

“I said it was gonna be useful!” Baekhyun retorted grumpily. He pushed forward, however, Nightmares floating around him as they turned to phantoms and then materialised once more up top. It was they who guided Baekhyun through rooms and rooms of machinery, moving fast, almost pulling him, until they reached a room full of Red Legion and two accelerator tubes.

“ _Those tubes are our way into the weapon’s core, Captain!_ ”

“I wish I could jump like a Warlock and just fly through the sky.” Baekhyun bemoaned, as he got to take the stairs and shoot like a regular human being. Nightmares were so bloodthirsty around him. They barely gave him a chance to do anything, really, as they devoured any Cabal who dared to get in Baekhyun’s way.

The tube he reached pushed every time it accelerated. Once Baekhyun had sprinted a good way away from its piston, he jumped into the actual tunnel. The blue twisting energy of the tube reminded him of a tornado.

“Here goes nothing!” He yelled, and jumped into it, catapulting himself through. He screamed in terror with how incredibly fast it was, heart racing out in his ribcage, but then, he was amazed by the view of the Sun –and the spot caused by the Almighty sucking its energy— he got through the clear yet thick crystal.

And then, the tube was ending, and Baekhyun crashed into a harsh metal platform. He was certain he broke a rib on the way down.

“Energy boost, please?” He croaked out to Mongryong as he attempted to get up. He felt probably up to his neck on stars and Taken energy, but the boost from Mongryong lessened the feeling of suffocation at least and allowed Baekhyun to run towards a couple of interceptors.

“Seriously?” He shouted as he climbed into one of the small tanks, elated. “It’s like they’re begging us to blow this place up!”

“ _We must not succumb into temptation of blowing anything but the weapon up!_ ” Mongryong reminded him cheerily. Baekhyun grumbled out a ‘yeah, yeah’, as he turned the interceptor on and began driving through the twisted halls of the Almighty, firing at the poor Psions he ran into, until they reached the weapon core.

And— wow.

An incredibly large, incredibly powerful tube of energy fired in intervals. Powerful intervals, which made the whole room shake with its intensity. He drove down towards the core’s platform.

“ _These are the thermal exchangers!_ ” Mongryong informed him, tagging them in his tracker. “ _If you take them out, the weapon will overheat!_ ”

“I can do that,” Baekhyun accepted, and took a deep breath. He summoned the Abyssal Champion and the Nightmares once more. He wanted no distractions. The Red Legion soldiers all over the platform and on his way to the thermal exchangers would be a distraction.

But his Champion delivered, and he was sickeningly proud of it. Baekhyun directed the interceptor towards the first thermal exchanger, shooting it until it exploded into the air. The second one, on the opposite side of the bridge, was relatively easy as well, even if Baekhyun wasted precious moments waiting for its vents to open and the weapon fired again over their heads.

“ _The last one should be ventilating the core directly, Captain!_ ”

Baekhyun manoeuvred his way through. The core was remarkably silent, the largest thermal exchanger working overtime to make up for the loss of the two others. Baekhyun shot and shot, and the thermal exchanger stopped working, but it wasn’t enough.

“Why didn’t it work?” Baekhyun wondered, as he climbed out of the interceptor. His vision blurred for a moment, and he stumbled once more against the side of the small tank. A Psion attempted to surprise him, and he shot at it before it could shoot him. At least he was still quick to the draw.

“ _The temperature levels rose, but it seems we must disrupt the core itself, Captain._ ”

The core was right in front of them, so close to the weapon’s energy that it would probably consume them if they attempted to approach it while the weapon was firing. Baekhyun looked around and found a fusion cell panel. He grabbed one without hesitation.

“We’ll use this to overload it, then!” He declared, shouting to make himself heard over the terrible roar of the Almighty’s weapon. Baekhyun watched in rapture, the fusion cell unable to burn his Taken fingers, as the electric blue energy shot across the tube. As soon as it was over, he began running across hot coils that separated him from the core, and he shoved the fusion cell into it.

It worked. The weapon lost power immediately, as the core exploded right in front of Baekhyun. Baekhyun began running back the way he came, sprinting across the coils and back towards the main thermal exchanger.

And there, he fell to the ground, panting.

Over him, instantly, scarlet phantoms of the Guardians appeared. The faded-out forms of Sehun, of Kai, of Lay, of Jongdae, of Suho, of Kris, even Chanyeol and Luhan— they hounded him. Baekhyun lifted an arm with difficulty and waved them away. They backed off, although only minimally so.

His trembling hand reached his comm. Baekhyun breathed in, breathed out, and sent out his final message.

“Vanguard— the weapon is destroyed. Start— start the attack.” There was no acknowledgement on the other side. However, Baekhyun wasn’t too worried, when Mongryong transmatted in front of his face and then transmatted his helmet away. “Did it go through?”

“Yes, Captain,” The not-quite-Ghost, his eye a pretty baby blue, relayed gently. “You did it.”

Baekhyun could feel— he felt mostly nothing, really, other than exhaustion. His heavy breathing seemed more of a response to a muted sense of fear he couldn’t quite grasp, and his vision began to gather black spots.

He reached out to Mongryong. The little AI allowed him to do so. Baekhyun closed his eyes.

“Captain, you are hurting me!” Mongryong cried in alarm.

Baekhyun’s eyes shot open.

He had Mongryong firmly held in his two hands, and he had been squeezing so hard, that Mongryong’s shell had cracked. A little bit more, and Baekhyun would have torn the creature to death. He whimpered and let him go.

“I’m so sorry,” He apologised, though Mongryong only remained floating a safe distance away. “I’m so sorry. I’m just— it’s like hunger. I can’t control it anymore.”

“How long do you think you can wait it out?” Mongryong asked, for once, serious, yet kind. Baekhyun shook his head— the only part of him that he still felt in control of.

“N-Not long.”

“And can you shoot?”

Baekhyun chuckled— a pained sound. They had spoken about this— Baekhyun didn’t want to submit. The Nightmares would close in on Mongryong if they didn’t do something.

“I understand, Captain.” Mongryong accepted sadly. His cracked shell flickered with his gentle light. “Your memories are safe with me. We are connected forever.”

“I-I want you to take them to Baekbeom,” He asked. “Don’t let anyone else see them. If you can fly Thumos’s ship back to Earth—”

“—I won’t leave you, Captain.” Mongryong stopped him firmly. “Orders denied. For now.”

Until someone inevitably came to get them, Baekhyun’s muddled mind filled for him. Baekhyun could hardly nod, but he did. Baekhyun thought of his brother, of his sister-in-law, of his nephew, of his friends.

Chanyeol.

“You’ve been the most amazing Failsafe a Captain could ask for,” He mumbled out weakly, and he swore Mongryong could smile at him in that moment. “I’m sorry I’m making you do this.”

“Exodus Black Captains never submit.” Mongryong answered just as softly. “It’s okay, Captain.”

The shell, though broken, still had some mobility. Mongryong opened just slightly— just enough for his tiny bolt of light.

“It’s over. You can rest for now.”

The Nightmares screamed for one last time as they dissipated, and Baekhyun’s head thudded on the ground once Mongryong shot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [baekhyun voice at the end of horololo]: it ain't over yet
> 
> don't despair. I despaired, I actually cried with this. But it's not over. We have two more chapters to go, alright? Expect them this week because there's no way I'm dragging myself through more pain than that!!
> 
> after that, I'll officially announce here that I'm already working on the sequel, because the story of Baekhyun (and Chanyeol) isn't yet complete and they still have so much more to go through together. So, I would suggest suscribing to me so you get an alert on when I upload that, if you're interested on still reading. Or should I just upload it here and make this a huge story (more so) of 40+ chapters lol? tell me what you think.
> 
> In the meantime, I uploaded a little Kaisoo fic (it's not little, of course) but it's cute and fluffy, serving as prequel for this universe. I'm also writing small drabbles with any "lost scenes" you might like to visit, so if you have any ideas, let me know. I'm currently writing one on the Byun Brothers and will upload soon as well.
> 
> congratulations on making it to here, reader. You've basically read a book of 560 pages by now!


	16. peace was never in the cards; the traveller saw to that

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm uncertain

**xv. peace was never in the cards; the traveller saw to that**

A boy walked into the Speaker’s chambers.

He had been only risen a mere week ago by then— near the ocean. That whole time, he had been upset over a strange panicked voice he could not place, over a terrible fear that was not his own, over frantic dreams that showed him things he would never have to see, and strong headaches his Ghost claimed were not a normal part of the resurrection process.

The Speaker had welcomed him, instead of the Vanguard as it was custom. And the Speaker had not explained much, if anything at all. They told him of how long they had been searching and waiting for someone like him. That there had been many others, but none stayed. That most had died a long time ago. That one had strayed from the Light and had been cast out. That another never trusted in his Speaker, much preferred the guidance of Warlocks who did not understand and could not help him.

Both were stubborn. Obstinate. Short-sighted. Afraid. Unwilling to listen, the Speaker said.

But he, the boy, was a blank slate. Without a name. With a Ghost who recognised the signs of potential and revered him blindly. With a class he barely recognised as his own. With no family, no friends, no acquaintances— only the terrible feeling of foreboding.

He was the perfect candidate. And so, the boy became the apprentice.

For a couple of months, he had been taught many things. He had been kept away from others, watching Guardians from his window with envy, meeting with the Vanguard briefly, but the Speaker was certain it would soon be his time to be revealed. The boy was a natural, they would say. More so than themselves.

“Wear this mask,” The Speaker had asked one day, revealing the face of an ancient Awoken that the boy was certain no one had seen in centuries. “It will amplify the Traveller’s voice. If you can hear so clearly as you’ve shown me, you may not need it at all. Let us see.”

It had been overwhelming, then— the terror. The urge to escape. The unknown enemy. The cage, worse than any silence, than any dark. The boy and the voice of the Traveller had become one and the same, screaming at the Speaker, begging them, pleading with them. What had been haunting at the edges of his vision and mind was now all around him, consuming him. The Speaker did not allow the Traveller to flee and did not allow for the boy to take off the mask.

And then, the Red Legion had arrived. The Speaker was no more, because they had not survived. Only the boy, with the clever Ghost who camouflaged away and bid their time, hidden behind a mask that was not his own was found. They did not question him. They brought him before a tall monster with striking, tough alabaster skin and eyes of blood.

He did not know why he had lied. Why he had not buckled under the pressure and the torture. Why he had pretended to be an ancient one he was not, aided by the mask which concealed his too-young features and by an unused deep voice. Why he was not afraid, even if there was no Light— only deathly silence.

It had been so long.

“Ghaul!” The voice of the Consul called, making him jerk slightly in reaction. “The enemy attacks the city and the Almighty is lost!”

“Lost?” Ghaul’s familiar heavy steps stalled for a moment. The boy struggled to open his eyes, but even that seemed like too much effort— keeping his body somewhat upright took all of his energy, suspended in the air as he was, limbs trapped. “Explain yourself.”

“Laid waste,” The Consul replied, his anger thinly concealed under a matter-of-factly tone. The second-in-command of the Red Legion was close to him, but the boy couldn’t focus enough in anything other than his voice. All the better, because the Cabal resembled a toad. “By the very same Guardian who managed to regain the Light for others. And aided by the very same Guardian ‘resistance’ that has been humiliating our forces throughout this cursed system!”

The Consul had reached his tipping point, the boy mused. He had been growing frustrated for weeks with the Dominus— the boy had watched, for as long as Ghaul had kept him as his prisoner in this chamber. Neither Cabal considered him a threat –and he was not, truly— and they spoke freely.

He knew those who had remained in the Last City had been executed. He knew there was a resistance somewhere out there in the system. He knew that a Guardian had reconnected with the Light— the Dominus himself had told him. He had assumed they would soon strike, because he knew from first-hand how harrowing the situation was. But he had not imagined that they would have gotten far at all— the Red Legion was too formidable. The Traveller was terrified. It was not yet gone, but it would soon be. The boy could feel it sometimes.

“You would know this,” The Consul continued to berate the Dominus, sour and antsy. “If you hadn’t been wasting your time communing with a machine, and the creature who claims to speak with it—”

“—Take care of your tone, Consul.” The Commander warned dangerously.

The boy no longer flinched, even if a weak smirk found its way to his lips, under the broken mask. He had grown accustomed to the way the Consul spoke of the Traveller— as a _thing_ , as a prize Ghaul had to claim for himself. The second-in-command had urged the Dominus to do so from the very start. There was nothing in the Universe greater than Dominus Ghaul. This was his reckoning.

But Ghaul hesitated.

Ghaul wanted to be chosen by the Light.

The boy, though innocent and new-born, was filled with a wisdom that did not come from him. It was that paradoxically unknown knowledge which made him find the notion of Dominus Ghaul’s wishes laughable.

But he never laughed.

“My tone? Hah!” The Consul was enraged. He was closer, and the boy once more attempted to open his eyes. His sight was blurry. “We will fail in our mission to secure this power and deliver our people. For the first time in the glorious history of the Red Legion— fail!” His voice boomed through the chamber. “Because of _you_ and your _preoccupations_.”

Yes. The boy preoccupied the Dominus, even though he himself had advised the Commander to kill him many moons ago. He had warned the Dominus that there was no use for him. That the Light would find its way to escape, and it would not be through Ghaul. That only those who were chosen were reborn, and that he had no say on who or how this process happened. That there had been many Speakers, and that the one he was posing as was perhaps the most conniving one.

But then Ghaul had broken the mask. The Traveller had fallen completely quiet then, and there was only a yawning void where its encompassing presence had wrapped the boy up for his short life.

He had not been scared. Merely resigned. He did not shy away from Ghaul’s threats. From his questions. From his revelations. From his fears. From how badly he wanted the Light to choose him because of his sacrifice and devotion, rather than because he had taken it by force. As days passed, the boy cared less and less about being found out as a fraud. He only wanted to be able to rest.

However, he listened to Dominus Ghaul, like a priest in the act of penance. Like a doting listener, rather than a baby speaker. Despite a few snarky remarks, he had remarkably little to say. Ghaul did not care.

“Look at your Traveller, Dominus!” The Consul, that toad of a Cabal, pressed on, raving mad. The boy, too, wanted to see his Traveller— but this contraption which held him was turned away from the very day of the invasion. He did not want to see the cage he felt on his bones like it was trapping _him_. “The cage is complete. The time is now. Claim was is rightfully yours and take this power!”

There was a tense pause. The boy tried to pull his body upright, just a little— enough, for the confrontation he could now sense coming his way. Ghaul grunted. He was making his way towards him.

“Tell me, Speaker,” The Dominus whispered, urgent, desperate almost, and yet not losing an ounce of his authority. “What more does the Traveller want of me?”

What more could he say? What lie could he feed this creature? The boy did not feel like a boy when he looked upon the Dominus. He pitied the Cabal. There was nothing to hide. It was time for them to escape or die.

His voice was only a bare thread when he managed to mutter his sentencing words.

“Ghaul,” He began, almost sad for the Commander. “I speak for the Traveller. But it does not speak to me.”

A lie, a lie, a lie, a lie.

The disappointment was palpable, but the boy would vow to keep this a secret. The Dominus was upset. The boy felt guilty. The Dominus left his prisoner unattended, and in that moment, the Consul released the boy from his cage.

His body, weakened and broken from weeks of being suspended in air and tortured, crumpled to the ground by Ghaul’s feet. His mask broke away completely, a few steps away from him.

“This fixation is over!” The Consul declared strongly. “You have already been chosen— not by some inert machine, but by _me_!”

Ghaul was staring down at the boy. His bare face, exhausted yet blank. Blood eyes met brown. The boy entertained the idea that the humanity of his prisoner was only now dawning on Ghaul.

“I chose you! The day I found you!” The Consul kept rambling and demanding. “Remember who you are. What you are. You are Cabal! Cabal wait for nothing. You will take the Light. Do what you swore and give me the vengeance you promised!”

Ghaul’s eyes trailed to the broken mask before him. The boy watched in curiosity.

“Look at me, student.” The Consul ordered heatedly, and then louder and closer when Ghaul didn’t heed his words. “Look at me!”

The Consul crushed the mask under his large boot. The boy did not dare to move. Ghaul let a moment pass, and then, his enormous hand was around the Consul’s throat, squeezing the life out of the old scholar with little difficulty.

“I will do as I swore, old friend,” The Commander promised in a low, terrifying voice. “I am Ghaul. And I _will_ take the Light.”

Slowly, the Consul was asphyxiated. Once he was unresponsive, Ghaul threw his body to the floor, barely missing the boy. The boy could not muster the energy to get up. To move. To fight back. Or to speak to Ghaul, and soothe his worries, as he had done these days.

Ghaul grabbed him by his hair. Pulled him up. He groaned in pain, weak. The Dominus dragged him through the floor, and the boy did not put up a fight. He looked out the window, though, saw the Traveller, the broken moon all wrapped up in a cage that burnt orange, and it was suddenly blazing over the boy’s skin as well, and he was angry, and terrified, and lashing out— the more intensely he had felt in these weeks he had spent as a prisoner.

“Let me go!” He screams, but it was not his wish— it was a message. “Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!”

The Dominus did not let go. He dragged the boy to another chamber, away from the window, away from the Traveller, and it was their undoing.

_I want to flee._

A Titan stepped onto a roof of a now abandoned building.

“ _Vanguard— the weapon is destroyed. Start— start the attack._ ”

If the Cerberus+1 didn’t break in Chanyeol’s hands, with how hard he was clenching his fists, it was because of a miracle. There was no pretending this wasn’t painful— maintaining radio silence for the sake of remaining undetected, now that they were inside the Last City. There was very little relief in knowing Baekhyun had survived and succeeded in dismantling the Almighty if Chanyeol couldn’t speak to him.

But their little conversation –the one that had given Chanyeol so much hope and determination— had been the one that had gotten their Thresher shot out of the sky. Their transmat down to the ground had been rough at best, and while everyone had survived and had been able to heal, Jongdae was a little worse for wear and with no way to heal properly and fully. Pepper was fuming.

Kris had received the exchange of Baekhyun for Sehun rather stoically. It was almost as if he had been expecting the scavenger to pull such a stunt. It had been him, once they were huddled in the same rooftop, who informed Suho and Xiumin of the change, privately.

Coughing in pain but without an actual word of complain, Jongdae leaned over the ledge of the roof and used the scope of his turquoise scout rifle to look up ahead— towards the rally point they had decided on, right under the Traveller, where the Red Legion had built a small imitation of a firebase.

“The rally point’s guarded, but not heavily so,” Jongdae informed their group— composed of Kris, Sehun, Lay, Kyungsoo, Jongin, Tao, Amber, Gayeon, Mark Lee, Krystal-4, Lucas Wong, a Warlock named Ten, and Chanyeol himself. He hardly trusted the last two, the former in Baekhyun’s behalf and the latter by proxy. “Which is… Is it suspicious?”

“Not really,” Lay remarked. “Half their forces were between the EDZ, the Almighty, and Io. It’s like they thought we weren’t coming at all. And well— we’ve been making a mess here while we travelled.”

“That, we have,” Kris confirmed. Indeed, the fireteam Chanyeol’s own men had joined had been fighting through the streets, slowly but surely making leeway. “Xiumin and Suho should be in their marks by now.”

It spoke volumes to their connection that the Vanguard was doing this without practically any communication. On opposite corners of the perimeter that surrounded them, there were explosions. Xiumin and Luhan.

“Look at them go!” Amber was the one to laugh. The paths of the twin sparrows lit up beautifully, and Chanyeol’s eyes darted to choose one to look at as they rapidly approached the entrance to the makeshift firebase. Kris had chosen an excellent scouting position. It was a thrill to watch Luhan and Xiumin, and those who followed them, flying towards the entrance and shooting any Cabal unfortunate enough to stand on their path.

There was another explosion in the entrance, and the Red Legion Centurions guarding the zone were instantly alerted, when they weren’t thrown back by the grenade’s impact. As Xiumin reached the firebase, the remaining Centurions were distracted, and Luhan finished them off from the other side with precise shots. The Guardians flying immediately behind both Warlocks shot rocket launchers onto the unprepared Cabal soldiers.

“Impressive teamwork.” Kyungsoo commended quietly.

“That’s our cue. Let’s go!” Kris commanded. Most of them shot forward without hesitation, to slide down fire escapes or even jump, to reach the firebase quickly while they watched Suho’s fireteam begin the main offensive.

Kris prevented Jongdae from leaving. He pulled on Ten’s robes, making him back up. Chanyeol stalled just to be able to listen in, surreptitiously looking back.

“Chen, you stay right here,” Kris ordered Jongdae. Then, he turned to the other Warlock. “Ten, you protect him.”

Ten nodded resolutely. “Understood, sir.”

Jongdae squawked, affronted. “What?! I want to fight! I’m good to go, I swear!”

“Listen,” Kris interrupted him, placing a placating hand over Jongdae’s head. He had done that to Baekhyun, Chanyeol remembered. “You’re in no shape to fight. If I can do anything to keep us from losing anybody tonight, I will gladly do so. How good are you with scout rifles?”

“I-I’m terrible with them.” Jongdae admitted. Kris nodded, understanding.

“Good thing then the Jade Rabbit in your hands is easy to handle, Ten here is a great sniper, you’re on a roof, _and_ we’ll need the support.” Kris didn’t smile at Jongdae, but the Warlock seemed somewhat comforted by the idea of helping from up here.

Ten was already muttering some words of direction to Jongdae, and Kris came right towards Chanyeol. “What are you waiting for, Park?”

“You, sir.” Chanyeol replied smoothly, shooting Jongdae a meaningful glance, as he slid down the fire escape and watched Kris actually jump down, like a big cat.

“Call me Kris,” The Hunter Vanguard urged as they rushed down the street— way behind the rest of their group and Suho’s own set of Guardians. “I’ll be damned if I’m not Daring someone to take my place in the Vanguard as soon as this is over.”

Chanyeol had no time to answer, when Kris picked up the pace and began shooting with incredible accuracy to the head of a Centurion who had managed to pin Suho to the ground. Its head exploded beautifully, and then, Chanyeol was pushed back by a Phalanx and its shield. He pushed back with a growl.

Red Legion reinforcements had been called, and Chanyeol found himself in the thick of a battle. He shot and stabbed and punched his way through, to try and make it to the other side of the walls of the firebase. Tao crossed with Kyungsoo and Gayeon, who helped Suho up from the ground. Sungwoo, who had been with Suho, was also on the other side with some other Guardians Chanyeol didn’t recognise.

“Sehun!” Chanyeol yelled to gain the Hunter’s attention. “Go through! We’ll handle this! Get to the rally point!”

“Got it!” Sehun shouted back, and he ran towards the firebase’s entrance as soon as he had stabbed a Psion right on the neck and fled its grip. It didn’t matter much— before the Hunter could cross the threshold, a Cabal shield materialised and pushed him back, effectively separating them.

Most of them stared in surprise, unsure of what to do, as some Cabal shot the ones on the other side. By Chanyeol’s side, it was Lucas Wong who hummed. “Well, this changes things.”

“It doesn’t change a damn thing,” Chanyeol retorted with a bit more heat than needed and yelled to the other side as he approached the shield— but didn’t touch it, because he knew it would burn. “Guys! Can you—”

“—I’ll handle this!” Tao exclaimed, as he ushered Kris and Suho further into the firebase. “Go! Get a move on! We’ll go in groups!”

“Gayeon, Sungwoo, Yeri, on us!” Suho demanded. “D.O, help Tao!”

Xiumin and Luhan would be here soon, as well. As Tao worked on the inside, Chanyeol looked around almost frantically, trying to find a different way inside. He suddenly yearned for Baekhyun, certain that the man would have known where to look for a weak spot in these walls— Cabal shield notwithstanding.

“Tao!” Lay shouted, pointing to the side. “To your right— there has to be a grid. It’s gonna be for a little bit, but—”

“—I see it, Lay!” Tao disappeared then, towards the supposed location of the grid. D.O nodded at Chanyeol to indicate he was working on it. Sehun made a sound of surprise and gestured with a nod of his head to the other side.

“How did you know?” He asked Lay.

“Cabal technology is really unstable,” The spy explained succinctly. “Because they’re a collection of races and cultures, and so are their machines. They _need_ to keep it on check in sight, but also—”

The shield spurted. Sehun almost moved forward, but it was back on.

“—They have all sorts of stabilising methods.” Lay finished with a chuckle. Then, louder, so Tao could hear him. “Try again, Tao, you almost had it!”

Sparrows were coming back around. Xiumin and Luhan and their respective fireteams were here, and Xiumin didn’t have to even transmat his helmet away for Chanyeol to _feel_ how his brow was furrowed.

“What are you even doing?” The Warlock Vanguard asked. He didn’t even let them answer, before he called for Luhan. “I guess we have to use your Vex portals, Han. Just— make it so they’re _right after_ this shield. Not too far.”

Luhan hummed softly, eyes twinkling with mirth.

“Yeah, about those portals…”

The Warlock never finished his sentence. The shield was down, and before it could turn back down, Lay was pulling Sehun forward. Chanyeol and Lucas managed to cross, but Jongin was left behind with Xiumin, Luhan, Amber, and Mark.

“Go!” Xiumin urged. There was no time to think about it, though Sehun still found a moment to tease Tao as they passed him.

“The idea is keeping the shield down, peach!” Tao only grumbled at the Hunter’s words, and his fingers were zapped by the electric board he was tinkering with. He cried out.

“Fuck you, Sehun Oh! I’m doing my best!” His voice was further away as Chanyeol just kept rushing in direction of the rally point they had picked out, through the ruined streets of the Last City that the Cabal had taken over. Sehun’s laughter echoed in the background of his mind, but the Titan only had one objective— and his eyes locked on the Traveller.

“Slow down, Park!” Lucas Wong was calling, almost playful and not that far from Chanyeol, much to his chagrin. “There’s another energy barrier up ahead!”

The shield blinked, before it had shut off again. It was approximately five seconds before it turned on again, and Chanyeol looked back to see the initial barrier in the same blinking state.

Chanyeol contemplated the idea of using his radio. It wasn’t like the Cabal didn’t know they were here, the Titan reckoned, as he watched the Cerberus+1 disintegrate a Gladiator who dared to come his way. He observed Lucas Wong shout and wrestle the large blade from another Gladiator’s hands and stab the creature with its own blade.

Is that how Titans looked to other people?

“Yes,” Lay confirmed, and Chanyeol realised he had said that aloud. The Hunter didn’t dwell on it, however. “I think these barriers are connected. If one goes down, the other does so as well.”

“This will slow us down considerably,” Chanyeol worried, and as soon as Sehun was close enough, he pulled him by his hood, angrily. “You! You need to focus and stop fooling around! We need to be faster!”

 _Baekhyun didn’t exchange places with you so you would slack off_ , Chanyeol didn’t say. _Baekhyun is in a ship so far away I can’t reach, and we need to get rid of Dominus Ghaul as soon as possible._

Fuck, Chanyeol couldn’t wait to have his hands wringing around that Cabal’s neck.

Sehun didn’t push him away. It was as if he sensed the Sunbreaker’s restlessness, and he just grabbed onto Chanyeol’s arm with his hand that didn’t hold the bow Baekhyun had picked out for him.

“Baekhyun would like you to laugh,” Sehun answered instead, surprisingly calm. “We’ll see this through, Chanyeol.” Then, he was louder, as if to invite the other two. “Race you to the other side?”

“You’re on!” Lucas exclaimed happily. Lay only got into a racing stance, and they waited.

The shield disappeared once more. Chanyeol sprinted with Sehun, Lucas, and Lay, and the four of them managed to cross only a second before it was back on. Chanyeol looked back, to see Jongin and Xiumin and Luhan coming up to where they had stood only moments before, and then the Titan looked forward towards the Traveller.

The cage looked almost— alive with energy. It distracted him enough that it was Lay who pushed him away from the fire of a Scorpion, and Lucas who shot it down.

“Look at that,” Chanyeol mumbled, almost despondent. “Ghaul— he’s draining the Light right out of the Traveller. That’s the only explanation.”

“It’s screaming.” Sehun remarked, cryptic and serious. He didn’t add anything else, before he was running away once more, climbing through the building and crossing bridges of constructions that had been abandoned halfway through, the other Guardians hot on his heels.

“We’re not far from the park! Kris and Suho must be setting up right now!” Lay told them as they ran. They had to be careful, lest they wanted to fall to their deaths. Psions and Legionaries patrolled the rooftops, but Kris and Suho had cleared a path for the Guardians that followed them. The Cerberus+1, Chanyeol came to realise quickly, worked wonders in close range— from afar, bullets rained down almost wildly, and it was a great distraction tactic so Sehun could aim his bow and finish the Cabal.

They came onto the market. There were still colourful banners hanging between buildings, because preparations for the Festival of the Lost had been only beginning when the invasion came. Chanyeol pictured Baekhyun enjoying candy with him, and he ran faster, until he was panting inside his helmet. No Red Legion would stop him from getting Sehun on the Immortal— the ship that had been the beginning of this whole mess.

They climbed stairs upon stairs, and they could hear fighting. Chanyeol rounded up the corner to see Suho kick a Legionary off Gayeon, while Kris attempted to work on the Vex teleporter with one of his arms clearly wounded and Yeri attempting to keep Cabal away from the man. Sungwoo was nowhere to be found, and Chanyeol assumed the worst for the former Hunter Vanguard.

“We’re here!” Lay yelled, as he rushed towards Kris and stopped the Hunter Vanguard from working on the teleporter. “The rest are behind. Those energy barriers really stalled us.”

Kris’s trip to Nessus and brief stint inside a non-linear loop hadn’t been for nothing. The very same teleporter that had trapped him, Lay had collected, and they would use it to make it to the Immortal— since no ship would make the trip unscathed.

There was very little time left, if the state of the Traveller was anything to go by. Chanyeol looked back, and it was as if everyone was taking too long in the short bursts Tao could shut down the shields. He looked back at Suho and Kris, and both looked— bad.

“Guardians,” Suho was speaking then, between heavy breaths as he held his waist, blood seeping through his gloves. “We can’t make the jump like this.”

“If we leave you here, you’ll die.” Lucas commented bluntly. He was right— the Red Legion soldiers were focusing here. Chanyeol could see them approaching by all flanks in his tracker.

“Then don’t leave them alone,” Sehun asserted suddenly. “Wait for the others— I’ll do it. This is on me now.”

“You’re not going alone.” Suho interjected, concerned. “Someone—”

“—Of course!” Sehun interrupted the Commander. “Chanyeol and I are doing this together. We promised.”

Chanyeol nodded, some of the tension he felt loosening at Sehun’s words, even if his body still felt wired. Baekhyun would be proud to know he had managed to see this through— that he had protected Sehun until the very end, so he could fulfil his destiny.

And honestly, a chance to see Dominus Ghaul die was like getting first row tickets to see— why did he think of the word Nirvana?

Lay had managed to activate the Vex teleporter. It was a small portal.

“A working, probably stable Vex gate!” The spy announced. “One step, and you’ll be right next to the big guy.”

“You’ll be right inside Ghaul’s command ship,” Suho explained to both quickly, as Gayeon dragged him away, towards a corner, where the Red Legion couldn’t see him. “It’s as close to the Traveller as we can get you. Be brave. For all of us.”

“We’ll give the Cabal their war, sir.” Chanyeol declared with a confidence he hadn’t so genuinely felt since the last time he had been in the City. There were no more words to be exchanged. Sehun ran through the gate, dissipating into nothing, and Chanyeol followed.

And then, they were alone. No comms. No support. All of their friends had been left behind. It was just Sehun’s Light, guiding them.

“I want you to know there’s no one I’d rather do this with,” Sehun told him quietly, earnestly. Chanyeol was— surprised. He felt something warm bloom in his chest, akin to pride. “I really admire you, Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol stumbled to say anything at all. The Hunter maybe sensed how flustered he was, because Sehun’s tone changed to something more mischievous when he spoke next.

“Except maybe Baekhyunnie,” Sehun quipped, and Chanyeol laughed nervously. “I’m sure you can relate.”

“I can.” Chanyeol admitted. Baekhyun would be happy to know Sehun was still thinking of him in high regard. Chanyeol would surely tell him, as soon as they found each other again. “Let’s do this, Sehun.”

They slid down heated tubes of the ship’s engines and fought through a pack of War Beasts. Chanyeol complained once more, imagining the Queen instead, but it was an empty feeling. Thinking of the Queen made him think of the Byun farm, and thinking of the Byun farm made him think of—

“—Look at the Traveller!” Sehun exclaimed, bringing Chanyeol out of his reverie. “We’re getting so close. It’s like— it’s like it’s in so much pain.”

“How can you tell?” Chanyeol asked, but Sehun didn’t get the chance to answer before there was fire coming their way, and they rolled out of the way. An Incendior. Chanyeol shot the Cerberus+1, bullets flying everywhere, and Sehun once more hit it with his bow, which seemed to weaken the Incendior with only one arrow until it crumpled into a heap on the floor. Baekhyun had made the right choice for Sehun.

There was an elevator. They rushed to take it.

“It’s the visions,” Sehun blurted out in a rush, as the elevator steadily climbed up and up and up. “I don’t know how to explain it to you. One moment it’s like I’m getting bombarded with a hundred images, and then the next— nothing. When there’s nothing, I—”

The elevator opened, to a large platform right in front of the Traveller’s cage. Chanyeol’s stomach plummeted to the ground, when he spotted the large tube from where Light –contaminated, warped, ugly, dark— was being extracted at an alarming rate.

“It can’t be…” He whispered. Sehun and he shared a look.

Chanyeol had known, in theory, that this was what Dominus Ghaul and the Red Legion were gearing up to— harnessing the Light. That they weren’t unprepared for this. But Chanyeol had never imagined that it could actually work.

Sehun began walking, and Chanyeol stepped to be by his side. He reloaded the Cerberus+1, and Sehun exchanged his Le Monarque for an Eynstein-D. The tornado of Light was loud and hot as the Sun, as the Solar energy that had used to course through Chanyeol’s veins so easily, like lava.

And then— there it was. The gravelly voice of Chanyeol’s nightmares.

“Fitting that your Traveller would send _you_ to face me once more.” Dominus Ghaul spoke slowly, from within the Light. “The only Guardian who has kept the Light, and the only Guardian who has faced me.”

He recognised Chanyeol, the Titan realised somewhat unsettled. He knew who Sehun was, which was even worse. The Light was suddenly shut off, and there, in the middle of the extractor, was Ghaul— just like how he was ingrained in Chanyeol’s mind, but now— kneeling among blue, purple, orange flames.

“Look upon me,” The Cabal commanded. “Dominus of the Red Legion.”

The creature stood to face them, his voice growing louder and deeper.

“Annihilator of suns. Razer of a thousand worlds!” He stepped forward, formidable and untouchable. “Slayer of gods and conqueror of the Light!”

Chanyeol swallowed, but neither he nor Sehun moved back.

“I. AM. GHAUL!” The Dominus cried out in a boom, basking it his own power. There was a pause, and then, he was unsheathing a long rifle from his hip, his voice lower again. “And I have become legend.”

This was it.

Chanyeol was the one to fire first, and Sehun followed. Ghaul jumped into the air, and the Guardian recognised him calling the power of a Dawnblade— both Sehun and he scrambled to hide from the swords of fire descending upon them from the sky. It was useless to try anything against him when he was consumed like that, and Chanyeol waited until the Daybreak drained, before he began firing once more. Sehun followed his lead, from somewhere on the other side of the platform.

“ _Keep going, Chanyeol, keep going,”_ Toben whispered in their neural bond. “ _You’re hurting him! He isn’t immune to firepower!_ ”

“But is it enough firepower?!” Chanyeol bemoaned, as he grabbed his grenade launcher from his back. The Acantha-D Baekbeom had gifted him wasn’t precisely like the ones he had often armed himself with in the Crucible, but it did the job just fine— perhaps even better than what he was used to. Ghaul stumbled back and retreated onto the extraction tube once more.

“Your Traveller should’ve chosen me!” Ghaul was shouting, voice like an explosion all on its own, and he was shooting at Sehun— the Cabal knew who the real threat was. Chanyeol fired another grenade, to try and distract him, but Ghaul jumped out of the way. “Now, it is too late! Look at your dead god!”

Chanyeol refused to.

“It won’t save Humanity a second time!” Ghaul kept taunting, as a Thresher came down, and Psions and Legionaries came to aid their Commander. Chanyeol swore under his breath.

“ _I got them,_ ” Sehun’s voice came through his comm suddenly, startling Chanyeol just a bit, but Chanyeol kept shooting at Ghaul until he ran out of grenades. He switched back to the Cerberus+1. “ _Keep getting the big guy!_ ”

“Why are you on comm when he can hear?!” Chanyeol demanded but did as told. Sehun bristled as an arrow made of pure Void disintegrated a Psion coming straight for Chanyeol.

“ _I don’t fucking care._ ” The Hunter deadpanned. Ghaul, indeed, could hear it seemed— because he was incensed, shooting at Chanyeol and once more calling upon a Daybreak.

“I am Ghaul!” The Dominus sentenced. “I claim what is mine!”

“ _And I’m Sehun Oh!_ ” Sehun sprinted through the platform, a swish of Void energy and nothing more as soldiers fell to his blades. He didn’t falter as he spoke. “ _And I don’t fucking care!”_

Chanyeol laughed almost hysterically. He could see what Baekhyun liked so much about Sehun.

“You have failed your Traveller,” Ghaul was speaking even when Chanyeol’s own fire was relentless, even if bullets flew everywhere— the Photonic Heart _was_ crazy powerful. The Titan took satisfaction in how at least, the Cabal continued to stumble, even if he called upon the Light several times— the next time, with a shield of Void not unlike Jongin’s, and then, with Arc spheres that shocked Chanyeol even underneath his heavy-duty armour. “You let your city die. Give up! You have nothing to fight for. You have nothing to die for.”

At least Chanyeol kept him busy, Toben having to work overtime to try and heal the most pressing wounds, the ones that would slow the Titan down. When Sehun’s Void arrows finally turned to Ghaul –the Hunter had to be on an adrenaline high like no other, if he could call Super upon Super like this— the Commander fell to his knees on the tube.

The tube became alive with Light once more, but this time it was purple. Ghaul was mumbling, but the authority and desperation carried his voice towards Chanyeol’s ears.

“More… I need more…!”

There was a terrifying war cry. Like Kyungsoo’s, only a hundred times worse.

Chanyeol ran through the platform. He was running out of ammo. Toben was running out of the Dusklight-Light of Jongdae. He noticed, then, that there were tubes like the one Ghaul hoarded and guarded, and soft Light –uncontaminated, clean and bright— was coming out of them.

A lightbulb came on Chanyeol’s head. He skidded over the closest one, and the rush of power was familiar— instant, burning hot under his skin, but no longer out of his reach. Chanyeol smirked ferally.

Oh, how he missed this.

The flames that engulfed him smouldered, but he revelled in the blaze. The weight of the Hammer of Sol was welcome in his hand, and it was easy, like instinct, throwing it in the direction of Ghaul with accuracy such heavy weapons often didn’t have. It was weaker than usual, and Chanyeol could feel the might and vigour of his Hammer dwindle in mere seconds, but it still incinerated everything in its path— and set fire to Ghaul, even if it disappeared quickly.

This— this was who he was. A Sunbreaker.

The Hammer came back to him twice more, and Chanyeol didn’t waste a single chance. Sehun practically cackled as he watched, and his own Shadowshots combined beautifully with Chanyeol’s own Sol.

Again, Ghaul had retreated into the extractor tube. The Light was even darker now, almost scary, its heat so potent Chanyeol could feel even as the heat surrounding him extinguished. And with how Ghaul screamed in horror and pain, perhaps the Cabal thought the same. Sehun moved forward, however, and Chanyeol followed.

“THE LIGHT!” Ghaul was yelling, between roars of despair and suffering. Yet, when the tube was shut down once more, Ghaul came covered in Light. But it was wrong, somehow.

“I pity you!” The Dominus shouted, as he erratically called upon another Daybreak, but this one was easier to avoid with the surge of Light that had ran through Chanyeol, while Sehun was naturally agile. “You know nothing of sacrifice! Nothing of worth!”

“What do you know of us, creature?” Sehun was saying, voice the loudest Chanyeol had ever heard it. He had summoned Spectral Blades, but he wasn’t invisible— he was going straight for Ghaul. “The Light doesn’t belong to us, nor to you— but this is our home!”

So Sehun would get a chance to swipe at the Dominus, Chanyeol shot with the Cerberus+1 as much as he could, following as closely as he could. He was bleeding from somewhere— multiple places, surely, and Toben was working as best as he could when he had to remain hidden with very little resources. Sehun’s wounds, with the Light at full power, didn’t slow him down at all.

One of the arrows found a weak spot in the alabaster armour. Chanyeol spotted it and used his Service Revolver for the small bullet it would provide, to create a bigger problem for Ghaul. It was working. Electricity was coming out from the openings in Ghaul’s armour, but they were Arc.

Sehun shot again. Again. Again. With every single arrow there was a tethering, and with each one, the Light Ghaul had consumed seemed to react against him in a way Chanyeol had never seen before.

Would something so mundane as an armour malfunctioning and electrocuting him be the true end of the Dominus Ghaul?

At least the Dominus seemed to think it was a possibility. The wings that made him soar so high where in pieces, and he was struggling to breathe, but Sehun allowed the Dominus to rush back towards the extractor tube, impassive— as if he knew something Chanyeol didn’t.

“NO!” Ghaul was screaming, like a monster, and he had collapsed over the extractor tube as crawled to reach it. The creature who had taken everything from Chanyeol was now reduced to this. Chanyeol’s heart hammered with the same intensity of when Baekhyun had been under him.

Sehun ran, and there was a Void staff, like the one of an Arcstrider in his hands and the Hunter was a mere shadow before he was straddling the Dominus, shoving the staff onto his torso, black oil shooting up like a fountain.

And it was silent then.

Was it over? Was it truly over?

The Dominus…

“…Is he dead?” Sehun finished the Titan’s thoughts for him.

“Shouldn’t you know?” Chanyeol asked, as he rushed to approach Sehun and— the body. It was apparent soon enough that it was still brimming with— something. Some sort of energy. Debris from Ghaul’s armour shook and trembled around him. “Sehun, get off him now!”

Sehun did as told rapidly. Just in time, too.

Rays of Light were coming out from every orifice in Ghaul’s armour, but it wasn’t much, until a gargantuan shot of Light stretched into the sky, pushing Chanyeol and Sehun back as they watched the ray shoot up to the very top of the Traveller’s round form.

“What’s happening?” Sehun asked, removing his helmet harshly to be able to see better.

“I have no idea.” Chanyeol admitted, deadly still.

The bolt of Light had expanded, into a winged creature of liquid Light— much too large for them to fight on their own. Chanyeol barely registered Vivi calling for more backup, because he was entranced by the creature of Light.

A body of Light. The Dominus was taking shape within a Body of Light. Just as the Nine wanted. Just as Baekhyun suspected.

And it could speak.

“Traveller!” The Dominus Ghaul of Light was tremendous and majestic, yet it struck horror into Chanyeol’s heart as unnatural. “Do you see me now?”

“This is not really going according to plan.” Sehun muttered by Chanyeol’s side. Chanyeol shook his head, but he automatically loaded the Cerberus+1 with its last shells, for whatever that would come now.

“You’re the only one who can fight him on equal grounds, Sehun,” Chanyeol warned. “I’ll still support you. But if I die, tell Baekhyun—”

“—I won’t tell Baekhyun anything.” Sehun snapped. “ _You_ will tell him, and you will be disgustingly cute and awesome together.”

“I am immortal! A god!” Dominus Ghaul was announcing, and there was no way every Guardian in the resistance wasn’t seeing this. The creature was facing the Last City, its back to the caged Traveller. “You have failed! Witness the dawning of a new age!”

But then— an orchestra. Sounds of voices, an eerie chorus akin to transmissions one could receive while travelling through empty space. It was like a distant organ, and Chanyeol had to really take off his helmet then and throw it away to appreciate how the cage of the Traveller was being filtered with Light.

“Is everyone seeing this?!” He transmitted in a daze, as the tendrils that had kept the cage together broke and fell spectacularly and there was a blinding Light Chanyeol couldn’t look away from. “Can you see the Traveller doing this?!”

 _You do see me,_ Chanyeol thought he heard. But there was no way.

The Light –the true Light of the Traveller— was melting away the creature of Ghaul. It was melting away its cage. It was melting away everything, and there was a moment of bliss before there was a shockwave throughout the whole City, extending beyond its Walls, extending into the sky, into the water, and everywhere in sight and out of sight.

It was a shockwave of Light. The Light was back.

A Vanguard stepped out to greet those who had followed them.

It had been chaos, the following events as soon as the Traveller became alive again, resurrecting like its Guardians once more, for the first time in millennia. Across the Last City, a losing battle against the Red Legion had a sudden turn of the tide, as Hunters, Titans, Warlocks regained their Light. Ghosts could heal, undeterred. They could bring back, unstoppable. Like a supernova, the Light had engulfed them all, and gifted them back the power it once had been bestowed upon them.

Tao accidentally burnt off the power grid, causing an explosion and a blackout throughout the firebase the Cabal had so hastily created. Kyungsoo came back from the bang with a snarl and hardly a scratch, and the Bloodguard who had come to finish Tao and he off fell victim to his rage.

Luhan had nearly collapsed with the intensity of the power that surged through him, and the Nova Bomb Xiumin accidentally casted at the impression made ripples throughout the whole neighbourhood, smaller spheres chasing Legionaries in their wake.

Jongdae had straight up fainted, much to the surprise of Ten. Pepper had never worked on her Guardian so quickly, so urgently, so happily, so relieved when his eyes opened and he offered her a cat-like smirk, the edges of his mouth curling up, telling her without words that he had been right all along. She sobbed openly.

As Suho thought he was gasping out his dying breaths, Byul flew over him, washing him in the warmth of her Light. The relief was instant, even if the blood didn’t dry, if the holes in his armour didn’t mend themselves. He was happy to be able to breathe normally, to see that such a gamble that he had taken had worked. That he had been able to trust the Guardians under his care.

Kris and Lay shared a look, as RouRou healed Kris’s arm and as Cat healed Lay’s head. Seeing each other more clearly than they had in weeks, Lay was the first one to offer a dimpled smile, mirrored soon by Kris’s gummy grin. They shared a short laugh, Kris half-threatening to Dare Lay right on the spot to take his place.

Jongin was unsure of where to look. To Lucas and Gayeon and Mark by his side, back towards Kyungsoo had been protecting Tao, up to the Immortal where Chanyeol and Sehun were, to the Traveller which was— alive. So alive. They had survived. He actually screamed once it came to a head, and hugged Mark, who was laughing and cheering, Lucas whooping, Gayeon sighing in relief.

And Sehun and Chanyeol, panting, looked at each other. Grinned. Hugged, like they were long-lost brothers.

Whatever Red Legion remained were no match for Guardians with their fully restored power. On Suho’s command, reinforcements flooded the Last City in throes, ships and crafts of all sizes darkening the skies. Soldiers took to the streets, hunting down Cabal like they were bloodhounds. Some dared to storm the Immortal, to search for prisoners, to chase down the high officials that had remained. Some ships even left to chase down escaping Threshers and Harvesters.

Communications were restored in record time. The shockwave had been felt across the whole of Earth, the whole of the Sol System— further beyond. It was still expanding. The culling of the Red Legion was set in motion.

“Guardians,” Suho had choked with relief when they were finally gathered, or most of them were. Chanyeol was eager to move, eyes trailing off to the Sun every couple of moments. Mongryong was back to not answering their calls— not even Toben’s. But Chanyeol wasn’t too worried. “What is there to say?”

“Maybe nothing would be best,” Xiumin advised gently, a kind smile on his face. “There is much to be done. Refugees must be called back into their rightful home. We must rebuild. There can’t be a single Red Legion soldier remaining in this City or any of its perimeters.”

“The Light lives in all places,” Suho began anyway, still emotional. Both Xiumin and Kris rolled their eyes in sync, but it was fond.

“Here we go.” Kris muttered.

“It lives in all things,” Suho continued, eyes shining and bright grin in place. He was like a star. “You can try to block it, even try to trap it, but the Light will find its way. We have proved this today.”

Chanyeol could hardly hear a word that came of the Titan Commander’s mouth. He needed Baekhyun. He needed to retrieve Baekhyun.

“Relax, Chanyeol, please,” Kyungsoo asked, though not unkindly— merely exhausted. “Just find Luhan. He can open you a portal right into the Almighty’s door.”

“That’s the thing, though,” Chanyeol countered, eyes darting through the crowd, wide, as if that would make Luhan easier to find. “I can’t see him. What if he already left?”

“After everything, would he just _leave_ without saying goodbye?” Tao wondered, and Chanyeol had to admit it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

“He did say he had other things to do.” Sehun joked, trying to act impassive as everyone surrounding them whispered about him without much subtlety. The Traveller’s Chosen had delivered, after all. Jongin wasn’t even listening— he had huddled in a corner, trying to contact Taemin.

“Well, I can’t just wait for Baekhyun to say he’s on his way back!” Chanyeol complained, anxious. “He’s still Lightless. Where the fuck is Luhan and his portals?”

“I can assure you he’s gone,” Lay’s soft voice interjected from the side, and he offered Chanyeol an apologetic half-smile. “He got what he wanted. Xiumin is safe.”

“Well, then I’m getting myself a ship,” Chanyeol declared strongly. “What’s the fastest that we’ve got? Do you think one of these Threshers will do?”

“Why use a Thresher when you’ve got the Holacanthus?” Lay tilted his head to the side, smile widening and then almost as quickly, slipping off. “I’ll take you there, Chanyeol. I need to make amends with Baekhyun. Properly. I’m sure you wouldn’t like to leave us alone, anyway.”

Lay was right. Chanyeol didn’t want the Hunter anywhere near Baekhyun— not when everything was still so fresh. When their little fireteam knew the truth, but the Vanguard, shining and triumphant as they directed Guardians and their efforts, did not.

“Then what are we wasting time here for?” Chanyeol said for all agreement. “Let’s get going, before anyone realises.”

Lay wouldn’t be able to fly fast enough for Chanyeol.

Chanyeol walked onto the edge of the Hellmouth.

It was still an infernal, grim, abyssal, and in a horrid shade of green bottomless pit of despair. It was still whispering. It was still calling Chanyeol— but there was something different this time.

Baekhyun was here with him, in all his poncho and silver-haired wild glory.

“We made it,” Chanyeol said in a quiet voice, offering a tentative smile. Baekhyun smiled right back at him, in that indulgent way of his, as Chanyeol had catalogued in his mind that he did whenever he was tired. “We saved the Traveller. We got the Light back.”

“That, you did.” Baekhyun acquiesced, sweet, tilting his head to the side, looking so cute, Chanyeol wanted to cup those rosy cheeks and kiss him until his lips were sore. Perhaps the Hellmouth was a strange place to meet, but it seemed fitting to Chanyeol— they both had lost themselves here, in different ways, hadn’t they?

“And you dismantled the Almighty, all on your own,” Chanyeol continued, moving to cradle Baekhyun’s face just as he wanted to, lowering his voice a bit more. Baekhyun grinned, showing teeth, but otherwise, didn’t move. “You made it out okay.”

Baekhyun hummed questioningly then, almost nuzzling Chanyeol’s hand.

“Ah. Did I?”

A sound and two words. Soft yet playful. Dissonant. Chanyeol didn’t quite catch on at first, but the more he stared into Baekhyun’s clear brown eyes, the less _clear_ and _brown_ they were— they were bright, but they were black. Like a black hole. Like stars.

Chanyeol dropped his hands. Stepped away slowly, fear gripping him. Not-Baekhyun just watched him, examining the Titan, gauging him. He was so still. Baekhyun was never still. Chanyeol would have to remind himself of that.

“It was the gardener that chose you from the dead,” Not-Baekhyun began, wrinkling his nose at Chanyeol in distaste, but looking away from him almost nonchalantly— and into the Hellmouth. “All of you. All of your little Guardian friends. I wouldn’t have done that. It’s just not in me.”

Chanyeol reckoned there was no point in not answering— in trying to escape this dream. He needed to know where Baekhyun was— if Baekhyun was safe.

“Baekhyun this, Baekhyun that,” Not-Baekhyun mocked, rolling his starry eyes, as if bored. “It’s all you think about. Don’t get me wrong— I understand your infatuation. He, I did choose. And he chose me.”

“Baekhyun didn’t choose you,” Chanyeol argued, feeling anger bubble up in his throat. He kept himself in check. “You hounded him, tried to Take him for yourself, and you _failed_.”

Not-Baekhyun cocked his head to the side. The creature turned so slowly to face Chanyeol, and the Titan focused all of his strength on clenching his jaw, on keeping a frown in place— on not letting his terror show.

“Look at you,” Not-Baekhyun spoke, almost with pity. “One little taste of that vile Light, and you’re back to thinking you’re back on top of the world. Is it really so addictive? Don’t you see the kind of monsters it brings in? Wasn’t this little Dominus Ghaul business a bit more than a blip in your radar? Or like Baekhyun says— do I need to try harder to show you?”

Not-Baekhyun chuckled. Looked back onto the Hellmouth.

“Baekhyun asked all of the right questions,” He revealed, even if Chanyeol hadn’t asked. “Somewhere deep inside, he knows you Risen aren’t that different from the Hive— puppets in a cosmic war. You’re only a wrong move from becoming like the Eliksni, too. And so many other civilisations, so many other worlds before you. It’s always the same.”

He sighed. It was almost wistful, and Chanyeol had to keep himself from screaming, from thrashing, from attacking this— this— it looked like Baekhyun. But there was something fundamentally wrong.

It was the answer to Chanyeol’s questions.

“The very first creature to resist me will always be mine,” Not-Baekhyun continued, and Chanyeol wished it would just shut up, shut up, shut up. “Baekhyun will always belong to me, will always have me within him, even if the gardener tries to take him away. It always goes like this. The gardener makes a stand in you all, and I think they’re wrong— but, you know, neither they nor I know for certain that we’re eternally and universally right.”

Another sigh, long-suffering. Chanyeol was trembling.

“The gardener had been hiding so well,” Not-Baekhyun observed, with an amused smirk. “But then— they had to go and defend you. And now I know where to go.”

“We’ll defeat you,” Chanyeol barely managed to get out, barely managed not to scream. “You just won’t make it here. Earth— Guardians. We’re different.”

“You’re terrified of me right as we speak,” Not-Baekhyun countered, unbothered, and clicked his tongue. “I told you all— I am the winning team. I’m all that matters. And you’re filled with the only thing worth anything at all. Baekhyun is already on my side, even if you think he isn’t. Wouldn’t you count yourself among the victorious few with us, Chanyeol?”

Not-Baekhyun was the one to cup Chanyeol’s cheek then. Chanyeol screamed, and he realised he was in pain, which only grew as the Nightmare in front of him grabbed his hair and pulled him to the edge of the Hellmouth.

“Don’t hurry to deliver your answer,” Not-Baekhyun reassured him, tipping Chanyeol down with a strength he had never felt, as if Chanyeol was but a mere rag doll to him, but slow— he was dragging it out. “I’ll come over and hear it myself.”

He threw Chanyeol into the Hellmouth. And Chanyeol woke up, shouting, Lay slapping him into reality harshly.

The Titan almost immediately shut up, as Luna melted away and became the inside of Lay’s Holacanthus. The Hunter was all up in Chanyeol’s space, frowning intensely, lips pursed, hands settling over Chanyeol’s shoulders to keep him steady. Toben and Cat were right behind the spy, watching Chanyeol.

“I-I’m sorry,” Chanyeol mumbled out. He remembered Lay had suggested he took a little nap when they were over Venus. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“In light of recent events,” Lay began cautiously, as he examined Chanyeol over, still frowning. “I’m gonna have to ask you to be completely honest with me and tell me if you’re infected with Darkness right now. Or was that just a regular, just-saved-the-world-and-coming-down-from-the-high nightmare?”

Chanyeol took a deep breath as Lay’s hands dropped from his shoulders.

“No,” The Sunbreaker replied with certainty. “To both questions.”

“We’ll get you tested for the first one as soon as we’re back in the City,” Lay informed him, and Chanyeol nodded. Lay returned to his pilot’s seat, turning off the automatic settings. “You… Really scared me just now. You were screaming for Baekhyun.”

“I think it’s just not over, Lay,” Chanyeol said instead. “The Red Legion might be finished, but I— I think— maybe the Traveller should have stayed dead.”

“How— how can you say that?” Toben asked in a whisper. Chanyeol didn’t dare to meet the eye of his Ghost. How could he even begin to explain? Words failed him, but fear gripped him. He had always been close to the Darkness, but— never this close. Had this been what Baekhyun felt? Was this what they were up against now?

“Don’t be scared, little light,” It was Lay who soothed the Ghost. Chanyeol entertained himself by rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and shaking the fear out of his soul as the Hunter spoke. “Why don’t you try contacting Mongryong instead?”

“I try every ten minutes,” Toben confessed, dejected. “At least, he’s okay— he’s accepting every radioing attempt. He just shuts them down immediately after. I don’t know why.”

“What about his tracker? Baekhyun’s or Mongryong’s, either works.” Cat suggested, and Chanyeol nodded vigorously. Toben sighed, almost as if he didn’t want to say the following words.

“Baekhyun’s tracker says it’s non-existent,” The little light admitted. “And Mongryong— remember how we found him? In Nessus? He’s always been hiding. We only got to him because he boosted Kris’s signal. There’s no signal for _him_ — or at least, I don’t know it.”

Chanyeol’s heart felt like it had plummeted to his feet. He felt himself grow pale. With how Lay reacted, rushing to place a hand over Chanyeol’s arm, and how Toben sort of recoiled into himself in shame, it was clear everyone could tell his feelings.

“Non-existent does not mean _dead,_ ” Lay assured him, though it felt empty when he was already flying faster— when Mercury was only a blur and they were approaching a colossal craft instead. “Baekhyun usually attaches his tracker to his poncho. If he lost the poncho somehow, then the tracker’s gone.”

“Why would he take off that awful thing, though?” Chanyeol questioned so earnestly, Lay had to stifle a nervous laugh. “I’ve seen him not wear it like, four times, maximum.”

“Because he got hot on the Sun?” Lay posed. “It’s gonna be fine.”

The Almighty had been abandoned in haste by most of the Red Legion. Chanyeol and Lay hardly encountered any alien –or any Baekhyun— throughout their scouting, and the Titan had already been dismaying at the idea of having to look through the whole ship just to find a glimpse of Baekhyun.

That was, until they went right into the Almighty’s core platform.

Cabals bled black. An oily substance, similar to tar. It got everywhere and was really hard to wipe off cloth.

There was a pool of dried, _red_ blood on the floor. It was messy— like someone had stepped on it or moved on it. They had left handprints and footprints. As Chanyeol compared his foot with one, and then shakily lowered his hand to do the same, he wished he had paid more attention to just exactly _how_ differently sized Baekhyun’s and his limbs were.

He was going to be sick.

Lay didn’t look much better. He asked Cat in a low voice to collect a sample, but pointedly turned his head away from it. He dragged Chanyeol out of the small room, into the main platform.

It was so hot here. Chanyeol felt like he was going to have a panic attack.

“Chanyeol, don’t go freaking out on me, okay?” Lay attempted to comfort him. “Baekhyun isn’t here, and that’s a lot of blood, but we don’t know if it’s his.”

“Who else’s is it gonna be?” Chanyeol retorted, wishing he could just take off his helmet and pull his hair out. “Where is Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun didn’t turn up in a week.

There were a hundred priorities, to the Vanguard— the top spots were dedicated to relocating the people of the Last City, handling the supposed death of the Speaker and the disappearance of his secret apprentice, rebuilding, relearning their places. Baekhyun had a solid spot perhaps at priority number #92, right over re-establishing contact with Luhan officially and right under getting rid of the remains of the Immortal from their skyline.

It wasn’t because they didn’t care. Chanyeol knew this logically and rationally. He could see it in the way Xiumin’s face fell at the news, at how Suho’s shoulders slumped with guilt, at how Kris had to excuse himself from the room and didn’t come back. How they all mulled over the story of Baekhyun's torture, the one he had shared with Chanyeol, of Nightmares and Darkness and the Nine and revenge, and how they chose to keep it quiet from the still scattered Consensus.

But in his heart, he had been absolutely livid. Kyungsoo and Jongdae had managed to talk him out of immediately leaving the City to just go search for Baekhyun, who could truly be anywhere, as a prisoner of Cabal or as a Taken, consumed maybe by the Nine, _dead_ —

—No. Chanyeol couldn’t deal with that. He refused to. Baekhyun couldn’t be dead. It wasn’t a possibility he was willing to work with.

But someone had to tell Baekbeom.

The Farm was still alive with activity, though it had remarkably slowed down in the wake of the end of what people were now calling the Red War. Baekbeom had kept up the cloaking, but Chanyeol had been able to find it easily in his newest City Hawk. He had tried to come alone, but Sehun and Kris didn't allow him to— the young Hunter had weaved himself right into Chanyeol’s side since the night of the counterattack, and Chanyeol didn’t really mind. Meanwhile, the Hunter Vanguard asserted he owed this very least to the Byun family.

Baekbeom welcomed them just as he had that very first sunrise— kind and warm. There was an unsettled energy around him that seemed to only grow worse when he looked at their faces, as he invited them for tea, as they sat in silence in their kitchen.

“We can’t find Baekhyun anywhere,” Chanyeol finally whispered, feeling as if though there was cotton in his mouth, not allowing him to speak. He struggled to keep his eyes on Baekbeom’s own, because it’s the least that the farmer deserved— Chanyeol’s vision, however, grew blurry with tears as he watched Baekbeom slowly shut down. “We lost track of him during the attack on the City and we just— I’ve really tried, Baekbeom. I’m gonna keep trying.”

He didn’t dare to say it. The possibility. _Baekhyun could be dead, Baekbeom. You need to prepare for that._ Chanyeol couldn’t fathom the idea.

Baekbeom, fortunately or unfortunately, didn’t need to be told to understand.

“I appreciate you coming to tell me, Guardians,” Baekbeom finally offered them a sad, bitter smile. There it was again. The wildfire in his eye. His tone was pleasant, polite. Chanyeol would've preferred him to be scathing. “It’s the least you could’ve done.”

Kris was the one to open his mouth then, voice subdued and quiet: “We wanted to make sure, give him a chance to contact us or you first. We didn’t want to hide it from you, Baekbeom.”

“I think I knew from the moment he left.” Baekbeom stated, voice soft, though his words were firm and resolute. “I wish I could say I enjoyed this visit. Get out. Don’t ever come back again unless you have my brother with you.”

“I’m gonna look for him,” Chanyeol declared later, on their deathly silent way back to the Last City. Neither Sehun nor Kris seemed surprised by this. “I’m gonna find Baekhyun. Dead or alive.”

“He could not even be in this plane of existence.” Kris warned, voice betraying nothing while his expression spoke volumes of how upset he probably was.

Chanyeol shook his head.

“I’ll find him, no matter what,” The Titan affirmed once more, and he had never been more certain of something in his life. “Even if I just find stardust— that’s better than never knowing what happened.”

With the Traveller alive and well, talks of a new Golden Age were already making the rounds in the Last City. The Festival of the Lost was back on track, they said, this year, with an even more special meaning. Kyungsoo and Jongdae were being indicted into the Hidden, soon. Lay and Tao were attempting to rebuild the connections to the Reef. Xiumin, Suho, and Kris would dedicate themselves to the Vanguard. Jongin was searching for Taemin Bray. Luhan was gone, but perhaps, he was merely unseen.

“I’ll go with you,” Sehun promised Chanyeol. “Whatever it takes. We’ll get Baekhyunnie back.”

Chanyeol half-smiled at the young man. It was the closest to a smile he had managed in a week. He nodded.

“Whatever it takes.”

A week before, a Guardian opened his eyes for the first time.

“Eyes up, Captain,” A little creature called, and the man could make out a soft silhouette of a drone staring down at him. One singular baby blue eye blinked at him, through a broken shell. “Oh! It worked!”

“What worked?” The man wondered hazily, though the little creature didn’t unsettle him. His mind was fuzzy, empty of anything— however, something told him he could trust it.

“The Light, Captain,” The broken drone told him, blinking at him. “How much do you remember?”

The man attempted to look back into his memory. There were— flashes of things. A soft song and a deep laughter. Jumbled bedtime stories. A fox. The colour scarlet. An ace of spades. A brother. A baby. A dance. A tall man.

“Love.” The man said simply.

A pause.

“While that is very sweet, Captain, I am afraid it is not very useful!” The creature told him, but his tone was cheerful and pleased. “Let’s start from the beginning. I am Mongryong. Call me Mongryong!”

“Mongryong,” The man repeated. “Who am I?”

“You are Baekhyun Byun— Captain of the Exodus Black, a very proud scavenger codename Skulking Fox, and now— I suppose you’re a Guardian. And I’m your Friendly Ghost!”

Baekhyun tested his own name in his mouth, whispering it a couple of times. It felt right. He tried to sit up, gingerly. Only one word seemed out of place.

“Guardian?”

“Yes!” Mongryong confirmed. “My analysis tells me you’re, specifically, a Hunter of the Gunslinger variety!”

“What does that mean?”

“Unfortunately, I’m still learning about the meaning of this myself,” Mongryong admitted, though he didn’t sound too torn up about it— quite the opposite. “It all happened very fast! I killed you, per your request—”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened. “—Excuse me?”

“ _Per your request_ ,” Mongryong was all too happy to stress the words. “And we had already hypothesised that would be it for you! Done-zo! However, while I was mourning you, there was an atomic explosion of pure Light coming from the Traveller, and before I knew it, I had been completely transformed!”

This, somehow, sounded familiar. Mongryong wasn’t done talking, however.

“This shell has completely taken over, Captain!” The little creature told him with impression, but it was happy— genuinely so. “I have become a Ghost, and as such, I could feel the Traveller loud and clear! It told me I was meant to choose someone virtuous to become my Guardian— and Captain, you were my first choice!”

“Oh,” Baekhyun said eloquently. He thought for a moment and tacked on a: “Thank you for choosing me.”

The Ghost scanned him, startling Baekhyun. He hummed.

“You’re suffering from the usual amnesia Guardians tend to experience when rezz’ed for the very first time, Captain!” Mongryong informed him. “Fortunately, you asked me to store your memories previously, in the event of your untimely yet planned demise! Things might make much more sense to you that way. Do you want to see?”

Baekhyun contemplated this for a moment. He felt— light. Free. Unbothered. He just— missed someone. He couldn’t place it. But something kept nagging at him, telling him over and over again— ignorance was bliss, for now.

“No.” Baekhyun decided.

“Okay!” Mongryong conceded easily. “We can wait! Your life is quite intense, Captain. I would suggest we work through it through short bursts of information. However, you must know— you have a lot of people who are, with one hundred percent certainty, extremely worried about you!”

Baekhyun found himself wrinkling his nose. There was warmth upon hearing Mongryong’s words, and yet—

“—Do I have to go to them right away?” He asked. This question seemed to surprise Mongryong.

“Well,” The Ghost hesitated. “Not— not necessarily. I have vowed not to do any more things against your express consent, Captain. You told me it was very important to you. But they have been trying to contact you. I did not answer because you were— dead. But now you’re not!”

“Then let’s not,” Baekhyun said simply. Mongryong seemed to not like this idea very much.

“We have to say _something_ ,” The little light argued, a bit more serious. “Or we will cause a lot of pain. Pain and grief are extremely unpleasant experiences, Captain.”

Baekhyun smiled. He noticed he was sitting on blood. He made a face, but just got up without much fanfare once he felt steady enough. He noticed there was an interesting gun on his hip— it had an ace of spades on the side. It was pretty. He took it.

“Pain, I think I do remember. We will say something, Mongryong,” Baekhyun reassured him. “Just— do you feel that?”

“We are not yet connected to the level of having a complete emotional neural drift, Captain.”

Baekhyun hummed. He channelled the feeling, unexplained and uncharted as it was, into the gun in his hands. It came alive with a blue fire, and Mongryong gasped.

“O-kay, that’s a new development!”

“That,” Baekhyun said for all explanation. The fire continued for a little while, until he willed it down. “That’s what I feel. What do you call this? It’s death. I need to remember this was inevitable, I think. Kind of like— you know. Remembering I’m dead. Is there an expression for that?”

“Memento mori?” Mongryong offered reluctantly. Baekhyun snapped his fingers and nodded, as he strapped the gun back on his hip. “I’m afraid I’m not following your logic, Captain.”

“It’ll come to us, Mongryong,” Baekhyun soothed. “Just don’t let anyone contact me for a bit. There’s a hunch I need to follow on my own, and there’s a lot of things you need to tell me.”

“That is true,” Mongryong acquiesced, recuperating some of his merry demeanour. “Okay, Captain. I will trust you and will override your commands if I think it has been far too long or unnecessary! I have a control module in your neck! I can stop you if I must!”

“Oh, that’s gonna come in handy. What does it do? Also, what happened to you?” There were a million questions in Baekhyun’s mind. A name pressed against all his barriers, made his heart thump. A C, and then an H, and then an A. Cha. Chan. Chany. Chanye. Chanyeo. Chanyeol.

A Guardian and a Ghost slipped into a stolen Cabal ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i can't believe we're here! and as i said, I'm uncertain if this chapter worked at all. As you can probably tell, THIS AIN'T OVER. 
> 
> The sequel will obviously continue all the Destiny stories that are worth telling in EXO's eyes, and I won't continue here simply because I feel this story is getting pretty self-contained. plus, we need more chanbaek are you kidding me? watch out for that last chapter here, subscribe to the series if you wanna be part of the sequel, and be sure to stay safe and healthy during these trying times :)
> 
> let's rejoice! Baekhyun's DELIGHT is coming!!!


	17. ready for anything but quicksand

**xvi. ready for anything but quicksand**

Their first stop had to do with convenience— it was right in the Last City, close to what remained of the Tower, and a refuge.

As much as Chanyeol would’ve liked to drop Kris back at the City and flown off with Sehun right away, there was no denying that the Last City and its people needed their Guardians. Though some outer neighbourhoods had remained untouched, there was a lot that was in shambles, and the destruction wasn’t really stopping refugees from coming back in large waves, even if they had no physical home to return to, no food, no electricity, no running water.

Chanyeol and Sehun were such examples. Jongin’s and Sehun’s dorm was now buried under the rubble of the collapsed Tower, while the apartment the Kingslayers had shared since the Taken War had lost half of Kyungsoo’s room and all of Chanyeol’s to a missile shot that had miraculously _not_ taken the whole building down. Most of their belongings had been burnt, singed, wet, or were covered in concrete dust. Engineers had declared the place uninhabitable, at least for the foreseeable future, so they had salvaged what they could and gotten out.

Jongdae’s Arrowhawk and Chanyeol’s City Hawk had become their new rotative homes, which they slept in in turns. In a way, it had been a relief when Tao and Lay left for the Reef— it meant they had more space and time. Not that Chanyeol had been really able to make use of his allotted sleeping shift, if he was totally honest. Neither did Jongdae, his partner during these turns, if his constant tossing and turning was anything to go by. None of them were really pleased about their arrangement, even if there was no other solution at the moment.

They couldn’t, after all, take civilians’ spots in the Vanguard-issued camps being set out all around the Last City, in whatever big building that had managed to weather the invasion relatively untouched. Factions of the Consensus, without the visible leader that the Speaker had always been, had surprisingly come together to help out with resources and relief efforts. Chanyeol was happy to assist them, but their thinly veiled political discourses were still present.

New Monarchy boasted of their young partisans that had been left behind by the very evacuation shuttles they had organised, and their story of resilience as they hid from the Red Legion under their very noses. Future War Cult reminded anyone who listened of how they had warned the Vanguard of a conflict like this a long time ago, that their followers were youthful and strong, that they had fought valiantly to regain the Last City. Dead Orbit subtly planted ideas of a new era of colonisation through the system, now that the Traveller was alive, an era that could finally get Humanity away from the only place they had known for centuries, led by their strongest believers.

It left Chanyeol with a bitter taste in his mouth. Had this been what Baekhyun felt? Guardians with their own agendas, when people needed them? When war had devastated them, here they were, selling ideas and stories. Not that they weren’t helping, but— Chanyeol could’ve used less noise.

Maybe that was just him. Everything seemed overwhelming, now. He needed a vacation. He needed reassurance of Baekhyun’s survival. He needed Baekbeom to forgive him. He needed Sehun to stop watching him like he was a ticking time bomb. He needed Commander Suho to approve his expedition to search for Baekhyun right now or he’d leave on his own.

The Last City would be rebuilt remarkably quickly. It was already happening— heavy machinery and able-bodied people, including Chanyeol and his friends at times, worked tirelessly day and night to remove debris, clean the streets, construct new houses and buildings, re-establishing supplies of water and power, and fix what could be fixed. Some souls were even organising the Festival of the Lost, a little bit further down the year than it usually was, to raise the spirits of the survivors of what now was being called the Red War.

Suho told Chanyeol this was all good, and that Chanyeol couldn’t miss it. But Suho also wanted the Sunbreaker _here_ , unwilling to say that maybe Baekhyun was a lost cause outright, so Chanyeol took it with a grain of salt. His mind, actually, was made up. As soon as he could make sure his friends —his family, at this point— had somewhere to drop dead while _they_ rebuilt, he would be out of here, with Suho’s approval or not.

Paradoxically, it was Baekhyun who gave him a way out.

Kris offered Chanyeol the key card wordlessly, without hesitation and without fanfare. Chanyeol frowned at the Hunter Vanguard for a moment, before he took it reluctantly, turning it in his hands. It was nothing special, all white, with the faded sticker of a bunny like the one in Jongdae’s Jade Rabbit right on top of black letters that spelled out— oh. _BH. Byun_. Chanyeol’s heart thumped painfully.

“What is this?” The Titan asked, almost whispering. Kris was looking down on the City with a serious expression. His new haunt was what remained of the hangar, and since this was where they kept their ships, Chanyeol was now accustomed to seeing him around. It was quiet, because Commander Suho had commissioned for all efforts to be focused on the South Side of the Tower. The new hangar would be very grand— not exposed to the elements like this one had been, left so vulnerable to attacks.

“That’s the key card to an apartment on the corner of Amistad and First Street, five minutes away,” Kris explained plainly. “Number twenty-eleven. Last floor, door fourteen-eighty-five. You get access to the rooftop. Also, they’ve got a really cute inside garden.”

Chanyeol searched Kris’s face for— he didn’t know what. All he found was exhaustion.

“I’ve checked it personally for damage and it’s intact,” Kris continued nonchalantly. “The master bedroom has an en-suite, there’s two spacious spare bedrooms, and a third, smaller bedroom that have to share a decently-sized bathroom. There’s an open living room slash dining room, adorable kitchen, with a nice storage room and laundry area. Also, there’s a balcony.”

“I didn’t know you were a real estate agent on your free time.” Chanyeol joked, attempting a half-smile at Kris. At least, he got the Hunter to snort.

“It’s my side hustle,” Kris replied without missing a beat. Their eyes met for the first time since this conversation had started. The Hunter’s eyes were bloodshot, the bags under them puffy and almost grey, black hair a bit matted and dull. Kris was a mess. And somehow, Chanyeol must’ve been worse, because Kris’s expression flickered with pity for the Titan. “That apartment has everything you could need for a safe passage.”

“It does sound exactly like what we need,” Chanyeol acquiesced. “But what if the owner turns up?”

Only then did the corners of Kris’s lips quirk up, albeit very slightly.

“I’m sure he’ll be happy to have company— that apartment belonged to his family, but on his own, it’s too big. He’s very lonely there,” The man assured Chanyeol. “Either way, whatever happens, we’ll resolve it when he comes back.”

When. The sole word was optimistic. It was the first time Kris suggested Baekhyun might be alive. It made Chanyeol’s soul feel a little bit lighter, and once again, he turned the key card over in his hands. This time, when he smiled at Kris, it was a bit more authentic.

“Thank you.” He said earnestly. Kris waved him off.

“Thank Baekbeom,” The Hunter answered, surprising Chanyeol. “He’s the one with endless vats of mercy. I’m a sore loser, to be honest with you, Park.”

Chanyeol tried not to dwell on that last statement. Baekbeom’s closed off expression as they had left the Farm one final time three days ago came to mind instead, as it had haunted him since, and the Titan couldn’t imagine how the elder Byun had become aware of their predicament _and_ decided to help them once again. He wasn’t going to question it, though.

Baekhyun’s building was a pretty thing— somewhat vintage, somewhat small, marking the transition from the more cosmopolitan surroundings of the Tower towards Midtown. It was of an off-white colour, covered in well-maintained vines. Inside, it had tiled floors and intricate patterns carved onto the wooden door frames. True to Kris’s words, it was as if war hadn’t graced it.

That very night, Kyungsoo, Jongin, Jongdae, Sehun and himself fitted themselves and their meagre belongings —guns and armour, mostly, maybe some clothes and tech, Chanyeol had lost everything so he hadn’t bothered to check— into the elevator that would take them to the fourteenth floor. Chanyeol could barely hide how anxious he felt. Sensing his distress, Jongin squeezed the blond’s shoulder, smiling warmly at him.

“Hey, it’s gonna be fine,” The redhead comforted, sweet and a bit awkward. “If Baekbeom let us in, then it’s okay. You can even have the master bedroom, even if it should go to Kyungsoo and I.”

“Excuse me?” Chanyeol exclaimed, laughing a bit hysterically. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“We’re the superior couple, that’s what he means,” Kyungsoo explained for his lover, deadpan, even if his smile was playful. “We’ve got the Crimson Bond titles to prove it. If this wasn’t your boyfriend’s place, we’d be all over that master bedroom.”

Before Chanyeol could protest that Baekhyun wasn’t his boyfriend —or hopefully, unrealistically, at least not yet— Jongdae was scoffing.

“Bold of you to assume I don’t want that master bedroom for myself,” The Warlock chimed in. “As the only single person here, I may be entitled to some sort of material compensation.”

Chanyeol wanted to say something, but no words came out when the elevator stopped, and its doors opened. He was frozen at first, but Jongdae and Jongin both pushed him gently out and towards the direction of door 1485. Only one of two apartments on the floor. He wondered if Baekhyun’s only neighbours were elderly, as he had claimed them to be what seemed so long ago.

“Bold of _you_ to assume _I_ don’t want the master bedroom,” Sehun quipped from behind Chanyeol as the Titan fumbled with the key card. “I’m the Traveller’s Chosen. What if I want some spoils from saving all of the Light, Humanity, the Solar System—”

“—Yeah, we all saw what happened,” Jongdae interrupted, surely smirking, playful. “And we’re pretty sure the Traveller saved itself.”

Chanyeol’s hand finally managed to find the right way to swipe the key card over the reader, and it let out a soft ‘ping’ sound as the door unlocked. The Sunbreaker swallowed and pushed it open, the voices and laughter of the others melting away as background noise.

Baekhyun’s apartment was neat, yet well-lived in. It smelled closed off, though it was nothing an open window wouldn’t fix. There was a fluffy blue blanket half-thrown over a grey couch, where the shape of a body was still indented onto the cushions. There was a game of solitaire with an actual deck of cards abandoned on the coffee table. There was an old-fashioned, wooden piano on one corner of the living room, while the other was occupied with a radio station, steadily blinking a small red light signalling unheard broadcasts it had received. A bookshelf filled to the brim with various knick knacks stood in front of the couch and a matching loveseat. On the walls, there were family pictures, digital frames which Chanyeol didn’t really dare to look at just yet.

They filed inside, Chanyeol only vaguely aware of the other Guardians besides him. He walked into the kitchen, where a mug and a plate were abandoned in the sink. The fridge was wide open, but empty and turned off, possibly automatically. He closed the door. At least the freezer hadn’t been left open as well, to thaw out for weeks.

The small laundry room still had a load of clothes in the washing machine. Chanyeol winced, hoping the garments hadn’t been ruined by being wet for so long, or if they had somehow managed to dry. They would surely smell.

Still, nothing indicated Baekhyun had expected the invasion at all. It was all too tranquil and ordinary. It was as if the scavenger himself would come out of one of the other rooms any second now.

“All of this space was just for Baekhyun?” He heard Jongin wonder. Chanyeol moved back into the living room, where only the younger Titan and Kyungsoo remained. Jongin touched the keys of the piano softly, playing a children’s tune gingerly.

“Three generations must’ve lived here at some point,” Kyungsoo pointed out, as he opened the windows. “They would’ve needed all the space they could get.”

Jongin made a noise of agreement. “I guess it makes me sad that he didn’t fill it up later, somehow.”

“Now we’re here,” Chanyeol said with a confidence and calm he didn’t actually feel. He hadn’t dared to explore the actual bedrooms yet, even if Sehun and Jongdae were seemingly going to town in them. “We’ll make use of all the space until he gets sick of us.”

 _If he ever comes back_.

No. Chanyeol couldn’t afford to think like that. As if it would give him some sort of strength, he impulsively looked up to the photo frames.

A child Baekbeom with both eyes and face unmarred by scars held a baby Baekhyun, who was adorably bundled up in a white blanket and a small hat, sitting quite stiffly in the very same grey couch in front of them even if the baby in his arms was seemingly asleep and peaceful. There was a photo of a couple on their wedding day, and Chanyeol was stricken with just how similar Baekhyun was to the man. Both he and his wife had wild grins on their faces, and Chanyeol immediately concluded that they had to be Baekhyun’s grandparents.

This was confirmed when his eyes drifted to another picture— where a man with dark-tinted glasses and Baekhyun’s boxy smile and a woman with Baekhyun’s droopy eyes and grace that translated beyond the photo posed with their two children, an awkward teenage Baekbeom and a clearly mischievous Baekhyun. The boy was containing himself for the picture. Chanyeol contained a pained smile.

There was another of Baekhyun’s parents, embracing in the street. Another of Baekhyun’s grandmother, framed by her smiling grandchildren, eyes no longer bright even if her smile remained. Chanyeol noticed the Vex arm resting on her lap, and belatedly realised it was attached to her.

There was another picture of Baekhyun, this time a teenager himself, skinny and awkward yet still unbelievably pretty to Chanyeol. The light brown hair made him seem softer than he could actually imagine Baekhyun being. He was laughing, eyes turned into crescents.

Chanyeol couldn’t look anymore. He dropped his gaze to the floor.

“You okay?” Kyungsoo asked quietly. Jongin was watching him, too. Chanyeol sighed heavily, expecting to have to explain himself further, but fortunately for him, Sehun came to save him.

“Chanyeol, either come check out your room or I swear I’ll take it from you.” The Nightstalker threatened with raised eyebrows. Secretly relieved, the blond Titan excused himself and followed Sehun into the very first room.

The master bedroom was simple enough, yet it screamed of Baekhyun. The bed was unmade, as if someone had been ripped from it in haste. The curtains were only half-drawn. The closet was fully open, but Baekhyun had only taken the essentials, clothes strewn messily inside the drawers and hangers. There was a workstation right there, with some sort of dismantled gun, circuits, and tools littered all over it, a monitor and a keyboard. There were boxes labelled with parts. No wonder Baekhyun had been able to figure out how to transfer Mongryong from a supercomputer to a Ghost shell, if he liked tinkering in his spare time. There were a couple more photos on the walls –particularly one of Taehyung— combined with some abstract art. On the nightstand Baekhyun used, there was a paper book, and Chanyeol could make out brightly coloured pages and the word _origami_ on the cover. On top of it, Baekhyun had left a folded soft yellow origami rabbit that he had even taken the liberty to draw cute eyes on.

Chanyeol sniffled, moved beyond words.

“Don’t,” Sehun warned, placing both hands over Chanyeol’s shoulders. “No crying over literally the smallest things. This room is a mess and you’re in charge of cleaning it, because it’s yours. Be happy. You have your own bathroom.”

“This is a bit cruel, though,” Chanyeol finally spoke, voice rough and wet. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know how much I miss him. And it might do me some good not to… Think about him all the time when he could be dead. What makes you think I’m gonna be able to handle sleeping in his room?”

“Because Baekhyun isn’t dead,” Sehun asserted, squeezing Chanyeol’s shoulders, but his voice wasn’t comforting— it was certain. “If he was dead, I would know.”

“How?”

Sehun kept silent, at first. Then, when Chanyeol was already growing suspicious, he sighed.

“Because those damn visions always show me Baekhyun,” Sehun confessed, a bit reluctantly, as if afraid Chanyeol would scold him for not saying something earlier. They had made a pact, earlier in the week, the seven of them, not to keep more things in the dark from each other. That they would protect each other, but information and communication was key to make that happen. “And he’s never dead. He’s just… Walking around.”

It was Chanyeol’s turn to sigh, shoulders slumping, but he didn’t feel like crying anymore as Sehun’s words gave him something to contemplate. He knew it would only last until he went into the en-suite, found Baekhyun’s shampoo, and sobbed over the scent, surely.

“That doesn’t actually mean anything, Sehunnie,” The Titan shot him down as gently as he could. “You never know what those visions mean.”

“I’m trying to learn though,” Sehun insisted, frowning at Chanyeol. “I’m trying to listen. Just… Trust me on this, Chanyeol. If you really want to, we can swap rooms, but I need you on top of your game if we want to convince Suho tomorrow that we’re leaving.”

Chanyeol was quiet for a while. He knew he couldn’t start to break now. But having no news from Baekhyun at all was increasingly disheartening, and with every day that passed, the possibility of finding him grew smaller and smaller. Even as he nodded at Sehun, heeding his words, even if he knew he wasn’t giving up, it was hard to think the Hunter was right— visions could be wrong.

Chanyeol needed a sign. A tangible one.

“Yo, Chanyeol, Sehun!” Jongdae called them from the living room. “We need you here for some snooping!”

Chanyeol didn’t even want to know. But Sehun was already pulling him back to the living room, and Chanyeol took one last glance into Baekhyun’s bedroom, longing, before they walked back. Jongdae had his finger hovering over a button on the radio station. Toben transmatted into existence, as did Vivi.

“This is an invasion of privacy,” Jongin was trying to say. “We shouldn’t listen to those messages. What if they’re important or personal?”

“I’m counting on them being both important _and_ personal, actually,” Jongdae retorted coyly, as Pepper transmatted by his side and nuzzled his cheek. “Because who, in their right mind, would send any sort of broadcast to a single apartment in a city that just got evacuated over an alien invasion?”

“The kids from New Monarchy that were stranded here? They might’ve been looking for someone that was trapped like them through radio channels.” Kyungsoo suggested. Jongdae nodded quickly.

“Extremely risky approach, since the Cabal were definitely monitoring everything, but maybe! We’ll listen to those either way, if they’re here.” Jongdae patted the machine and looked over at the rest of the Guardians and their appearing Ghosts. “Really, listen— I think we might be sitting on some important intel here. A clue, something that might tell us where Baekhyun might have gone off to.”

“It’s… A possibility,” Ink acquiesced, while Chanyeol gloomily crossed his arms and leaning on the arm of the grey couch. “We should record them, just in case.”

“Already on it!” Pepper chirped. She was back to her cheerful, peppy, happy-to-please mood from before the Red War, now that Jongdae was safe and sound and with his Light shining more than ever before within him. The Light had returned to him with something extra powerful, Xiumin had remarked, perhaps due to his sacrifice for Baekhyun. As if the Traveller was rewarding the Warlock’s efforts.

“Ready, Guardians and Ghosts?” Jongdae asked, mostly for show. Chanyeol wasn’t ready, and merely pursed his lips. But then, Jongdae had pressed the button, and there was some static, before the first message came through.

“ _…Already not answering, Baekhyunnie?_ ” Lucas Wong teased, and Chanyeol’s jaw clenched involuntarily. “ _I figured you’d want to celebrate for a game well-played! But instead, you fell asleep, didn’t you?_ ” A laughter. It was carefree, calm. Boyish. “ _When you wake up, hit me up. We gotta tie everything up with a neat pretty bow. See you._ ”

Chanyeol huffed but didn’t say anything. Jongin looked around, somewhat lost, and Kyungsoo explained: “Lucas and Sungwoo might’ve helped Baekhyun get rid of Burning Sun, but we’re not sure how they did it yet.”

“Sungwoo’s no longer around to tell us,” Jongdae commented idly, as he grabbed a pen and paper from— somewhere and began writing things down. “But Lucas is. And he might crack. He might know something else.”

The second message began playing before they could further discuss the merits of Lucas Wong. It was a familiar voice, which made Jongin perk up and Chanyeol stifle a reluctant smile.

Mark Lee.

“ _H-Hey, Baekhyun…_ ” The Hunter, an Arcstrider and one of Jongin’s best friends, was awkward as he spoke. “ _How are you? Uh, I figured you’d come down to the Seven Stars tonight, but Lucas says you’re probably resting. Which. Makes sense. Uhm. Listen—_ ”

“Don’t do it, Mark,” Jongin pleaded with wide eyes, as if Mark would be able to listen to him or as if it even mattered three weeks too late. “Don’t.”

“— _Could I borrow your SUROS Regime? Again?_ ” Mark was sighing, as if he too was ashamed and Jongin made a show of throwing a tantrum, Monggu and Kyungsoo chuckling. “ _I know! I know you said you’d kick my ass the last time! And dude, you’re totally welcome to! But Iron Banner’s coming up, my Hard Light’s at the shop, and I really wanna have a chance this time against Kai and D.O._ ”

Jongin was shaking his head in disapproval. Kyungsoo seemed oddly proud.

“ _Anyway, yeah, just. Think about it, please?_ ” Mark was now begging. “ _I’ll try calling you tomorrow. I hope you have a nice night!_ ”

Jongdae was scribbling more, but there was a grin on his lips. Sehun snorted, aware he was the only one missing something this time.

“Was that Mark Lee?” Sehun asked. “What’s he doing asking Baekhyun for a gun?”

“Mark nearly won the Crimson Doubles Tournament two years ago with that gun and he thinks it’s his lucky charm,” Jongin was shaking his head. “I’m _just_ connecting the dots—”

Jongin was cut off by another message. This one was shorter, more serious than the first two. It was a woman, too, soft-spoken.

“ _I thought I’d catch you up and about, but I guess not, Fox,_ ” The unknown woman remarked. “ _Everything’s set up for you here. I’ve got a believable job lined up. Big pay day in the Reef if you’re interested. Let me know._ ”

Jongdae kept writing down things on his piece of paper. No one said anything, merely waiting for the next one. It was the same woman, sounding more distraught this time around.

“ _I just heard what happened,_ ” She was saying, urgent and quiet. “ _Any Guardian here— they’re getting rounded up by the Corsairs. I don’t know what for. You’d give me a lot of peace of mind if you stopped encrypting your comm and gave it to me straight._ ”

A pause. A heavy breath. “ _Please, please, let me know you are safe._ ”

The broadcast was over, then. Jongdae made a humming sound, as he wrote down more things. “We’re entering post-invasion territory. But there’s only two messages left, anyway.”

“So Baekhyun encrypts his comm,” Toben mused. “Why would he do that? He would need to be reached anywhere, with his job and all.”

“Add it to the ‘unsolved’ pile of bullshit Baekhyun does, Toben,” Chanyeol muttered, morosely. “Jongdae— are you getting anything from this?”

Jongdae opened his mouth to speak, but the next message interrupted him. This one, they had heard before.

“ _Guardians—”_ It was Commander Suho, grim and familiar. “ _The City has been lost. Our Vanguard is torn. If there is any Light left in the system… We rally on Titan. Be brave._ ”

Titan. Right. They had been there. Chanyeol huffed out a breath.

“With a broadcast that powerful, I’m surprised the Red Legion didn’t go try and find us in Titan.” Jongin commented nervously.

“You have the New Monarchy kids to thank for that,” Chanyeol was the one to answer. This, at least, he knew. “They gave the Cabal a really hard time here, from what I’ve heard.”

Only one message left. Jongdae kept writing. It was starting to get on Chanyeol’s nerves, not being able to concentrate to gather clues so easily, not being able to hear what the Warlock heard, even if Jongdae had always been the cleverest of the three.

And then—

“ _So, hey,_ ” Baekhyun’s voice was bright and clear through the radio, and Chanyeol’s brain could only focus on that single sound from that moment on, latching to the timbre, amplifying it until there was nothing else— like Baekhyun’s was in a vacuum. “ _This is tagged as ‘home’._ ”

Baekhyun was humming a tune under his breath, shuffling, as if he had all the time in the world. Chanyeol stood up slowly, under the watchful eyes of every other Guardian and Ghost in the room, and he grabbed at the overgrown strands of his own hair, just to have something to hold on to.

That was Baekhyun. Actually, real, live Baekhyun.

“ _Oh, sorry, right,_ ” Baekhyun began again, as if he belatedly remembered he was supposed to send a message. “ _Mongryong keeps telling people at ‘home’ need to know I’m safe and sound. So, I figured I might as well._ ”

Bless that not-quite-Ghost. Chanyeol was so relieved, he could feel the sting of tears again, but this time, it wasn’t as desperate.

“ _People at home!_ ” Baekhyun sounded so playful and unconcerned, even when making his voice more official and serious. “ _As of October third—_ ” There was crackling, but then Baekhyun was back. “— _and my watch tells me it’s also… Five in the afternoon in… E-D-Z._ _EDZ?_ ”

October 3rd had been the day they visited Baekbeom. Only three days ago. Jongdae jotted it down, while Chanyeol closed his eyes and mouthed a prayer of thanks.

“ _As of that present time! I am safe and sound. A liiiiittle bit amnesiac, but no worries. I’ve got ways to make it all come back to me._ ”

There was a small silence, but Chanyeol could make out Mongryong in the background, urging Baekhyun to explain where they were going. Baekhyun scoffed, annoyed all of the sudden.

“ _Now where’s the fun in that? We’ll go when we’re ready, Mongryong_ ,” The scavenger decided. “ _And that’s Captain’s orders. No snitching, little light._ ”

A little more arguing. Mongryong was berating Baekhyun in his happiest tone of how he was abusing the security protocols he hadn’t learnt to bypass just yet. Baekhyun ignored the not-quite-Ghost, but Chanyeol was happy, if it meant listening to his voice.

“ _That’s it on our status, ‘home’,_ ” Baekhyun was back to being playful and coy, enjoying the teasing. “ _Don’t call us. I’ll call you._ ”

Then, it was over. Chanyeol ended up sitting once more on the couch, because his legs felt like jelly. The Titan hid his face in his hands, while Jongin came to hug him, tucking himself on his side and yelling at Sehun to do the same on the other side of Chanyeol. Toben laid on top of Chanyeol’s hair, in the only way he could comfort him.

“Track that signal down!” Kyungsoo was ordering, while Ink made a sound of disapproval.

“It’s gonna take us a bit to decrypt it, but if you let me work at it tonight, I’ll have a location by…” Ink trailed off, and then sighed. “…Tomorrow morning. It’s really good encryption.”

“I’ll help you!” Monggu offered. “We’ll make a sleepover of it.”

“Aw, now I wanna help too!” Vivi complained. “I wanna be part of the sleepover!”

“What have you got, Jongdae?” Kyungsoo asked the Warlock. Chanyeol didn’t look up, but he could hear Jongdae moving to show Kyungsoo his findings.

“I’ve got our next clue, for sure,” Jongdae asserted.

This was it. This was the sign Chanyeol needed. He went over Baekhyun’s every word, as if attempting to memorise them— the tilt of his voice, the emotions, the inflections of his tone.

Realisation.

“Hold on one minute,” He exclaimed with a loud gasp, pushing Jongin and Sehun from his space even if Toben remained over his head. He gave Kyungsoo and Jongdae the widest eyes, which were reciprocated. “Did he say he was _amnesiac_?”

Their first stop had been a gut feeling— its pull was incommensurable. Baekhyun couldn’t even begin to explain it to Mongryong, but it seemed there wasn’t much the Ghost didn’t understand on his own.

“You told me of what is in the Moon during our very first meeting, Captain!” Mongryong cheerfully reminded him. Baekhyun, who was blindly setting coordinates into the Thresher they had apparently stolen, blinked up at him.

“Can you tell me what’s there, then?” Baekhyun asked. “So I know what to expect.”

“I still cannot surpass my own security modules, Captain!” Mongryong informed him regretfully. “And you made sure to hide the information within me! However, I can tell you this is a very bad idea!”

“I’m full of bad ideas,” Baekhyun told Mongryong with a little smirk. “I feel like you know that already?”

“I am glad to see your winning personality is unharmed, Captain!” Mongryong quipped back, sassy yet always happy. His eye was trained on how Baekhyun controlled the ship, as if it was second nature to him. “As is your procedural memory!”

“Thanks!” Baekhyun chirped, and then, made a sound of displeasure. “Not that your conversation isn’t absolutely lovely, Mongryong, but could we get some music in here?”

“Providing with music is one of my most favourite commands, Captain! How about we start in style?”

The drums, the bass, the tingling bells, they were soft and familiar. Baekhyun found himself beginning to tap his foot to the beat, bobbing his head gently, a pleased smile taking over his features.

_Listen baby_

_Ain’t no mountain high_

_Ain’t no valley low_

_Ain’t no river wide enough, baby_

“This should be our theme song!” He declared impulsively.

“It already is, Captain!” Mongryong informed him merrily.

“We’re so in sync!” Baekhyun marvelled.

Mongryong and he worked pretty well together, Baekhyun came to realise, even if they apparently had only known each other for a few days. As Mongryong described it, Baekhyun’s home had been invaded by the Cabal— a warmongering alien race, bulky and large and relentless. Baekhyun had been forced to relocate, for one, and had been involved in some sort of resistance effort. That had been how Baekhyun ended in Mongryong’s centaur— searching for a wayward friend who could apparently help. Said wayward friend had insisted on getting the help of an even more wayward-ey friend, but he didn’t want Baekhyun to be involved.

Apparently, Baekhyun’s response to being left out had been transferring a super computer’s software into a tiny Ghost shell. It was a feat of engineering, according to Mongryong, and everyone around them had been either proud or appalled or a combination of both. Baekhyun thought he seemed to have an unorthodox way of dealing with fear of missing out.

After that, Baekhyun and Mongryong had kept up at this resistance against the Cabal with their allies— that had been how they ended up in the grand craft Baekhyun had woken up in, disabling its weapon, which could devour stars.

But Baekhyun was sick –how, Mongryong couldn’t really explain— and Mongryong had been left with no choice but to kill him before the sickness consumed Baekhyun. Per his request.

The Ghost hadn’t been a Ghost then. He had never expected to become one, either. Mongryong, in fact, had been preparing to stay with Baekhyun’s body until someone came to find them. And then—

“—The Light happened!” Mongryong said reverently. “And everything changed! I just had to bring you back, Captain!”

The Light. It was a strange, confusing concept, Baekhyun admitted.

It was a paracausal force –“like magic, Captain!”— which allowed Baekhyun to do things others could not. Like, seemingly, come back to life. He also had the power of the Sun running through his veins, Mongryong explained, but he didn’t quite understand it either. He was a turned Ghost, after all, rather than a born one.

“It will be a journey of discovery for the both of us!” Mongryong tried to reassure his Hunter. “We’ll learn everything there is to learn about the Traveller, its Light, and being Ghost and Guardian by trial and error!”

It wasn’t ideal, but Baekhyun could deal. Honestly, his head was already spinning with what Mongryong _had_ shared, even if he had left out names and other people from his story, even if he heavily implied Baekhyun had many friends. Mongryong was debating on whether naming names would be the best for Baekhyun or not. Dealing with amnesiac crew members had been a foreseeable possibility that the Exodus Black had contemplated in its protocols, but the exact part of those protocols was one Mongryong had accidentally locked himself out of almost 127 years ago.

“I really appreciate you telling me all of this,” Baekhyun eventually told Mongryong with a smile, after hours and hours of interstellar travel. “But why do I feel like there’s a huge chunk missing?”

“Oh, Captain!” Mongryong exclaimed. “There are a lot of chunks missing! If you want, we could get started into your memories right now—”

“—I’m good,” Baekhyun stopped him. “Thanks.”

Mongryong didn’t press. But Mongryong wasn’t pleased, either, with their destination. Baekhyun felt a fear he couldn’t place, but this was something he needed to do. Even if he didn’t know what it was that he needed to do.

There was just something calling him over. Beckoning him forward. He couldn’t really ignore it. And he found himself not really wanting to ignore it, anyway.

The Moon was a desolate, dark place— and torn. Its surface had a gash, like a creature larger than the satellite had run its claws over its side. This wound had an eerie, greenish glow to it, even from afar, as they approached it in the stolen Thresher. Baekhyun could swear it whispered, too, but that— that was impossible, right? Moons didn’t whisper.

Mongryong didn’t look bothered, humming along to whatever cheery tune he had put on and Baekhyun suddenly had a hard time concentrating on. He kept his mouth shut, instead, and flew the ship towards their unknown goal, playing it solely by ear.

The Hunter gasped audibly when he saw the scarlet fortress, hidden in a valley among lunar hills. Mongryong startled, and floated forward, shutting down the music that he had playing for hours abruptly.

“What—” Mongryong started, tilting his little broken body to the side, and blinking. “What is that place?”

“I have no clue, I’m just the driver,” Baekhyun answered, feeling his stomach sink. Except, he felt like this was exactly the place he was supposed to be in. The whispering was still present, low, like it came from the back of the craft they were in, but when Baekhyun looked back, there was nothing. “Do you, by any chance, hear those… Voices?”

Mongryong turned to Baekhyun. “…No, Captain.”

“Oh, that’s really great, then,” Baekhyun laughed a bit nervously. “I’m going crazy already. Was I going crazy before?”

“Just a little bit, Captain,” Mongryong dismissed just as nervously, although still peppy. Mongryong had mentioned he couldn’t actually _stop_ being cheerful and positive— something about a glitch. “This would be a good moment to check your memories, if any, of this place!”

Baekhyun had a feeling there was something worth remembering before getting down. He was unable to stop himself, though, from starting to land the Thresher behind a crater, not too far from the large doors of the scarlet fortress. Out of a whim, he put on his helmet. There was a tracker. There was nothing around.

“Okay… Yeah, okay,” Baekhyun nodded. “Show me whatever we’ve got on… The Moon.”

Mongryong complied, though it was a vague request. Baekhyun felt a small pulse on his neck, and the next second, there was a thin veil before his eyes, like a screen.

Events moved more quickly, in these filed memories— Baekhyun’s eyes processed less than half of them, even if his brain seemed to absorb every single detail. Most things passed by without him really having any reaction to it. He was with someone sometimes, a tall man always cladded in armour, protective gear and with a dark padded cloak, but never did Baekhyun see his face. Most of the time, he was alone, be it shooting at strange creatures, or sneaking away from them, as he searched for something— always scavenging, always there to collect.

It was all mostly meaningless. Nothing worthy of note, nor of recognition. Until suddenly, like a flash, he was staring at the very same fortress. Something about it put him on edge even then. No, this wasn’t a fortress, it wasn’t a fortress, it was a keep. It was a keep. It was a keep. It was a keep. It was a keep. That was important. Why did he keep thinking that?

He had come off his ship. He had made his way into the keep. There were creatures, ugly and jagged, of the very same blood colour as the keep itself, but they didn’t pay him no mind. It was a gigantic place, a large tower sitting on its centre. Baekhyun had travelled down lunar dirt paths, filled with strange eggs and gunk and spikes and runes and darkness, until there was a mysterious fog. He kept going down, and down, and down, deeper into an enduring abyss. Why hadn’t he stopped? It was so empty, and yet Baekhyun kept thinking there was someone watching him. That there was someone hiding in the shadows.

And then—

Nothing.

_You’ll have to see me for yourself._

“That’s most irregular!” Mongryong remarked immediately, as Baekhyun frowned, the screen disappearing and he was back in reality— but he felt nervous, now. Unsettled and out of sorts. “There was extremely potent interference by the end of it! It is as if your very own memories are contaminated with a virus, Captain! I cannot access them! What could it be?”

“If you don’t know, how am I supposed to know?” Baekhyun asked. “There’s obviously something down here. Do you think I found it?”

“I _know_ you found it,” Mongryong immediately replied. “Captain, if I had access to my physical security modules, I would be able to hack them! However, as it is, I can only confirm information you have!”

Baekhyun shook his head. “Why? Aren’t you a Ghost now? No longer an AI? Why do your ‘modules’ still dictate your actions?”

“I am Mongryong! Call me Mongryong!” Mongryong told him, a bit irritated even with the enthusiastic disposition. “All BrayTech is wired to never abandon their own directives, no matter the level of sentience and independence they achieve! Even Exos are this way! Have you heard of Deep Stone Crypt?”

Baekhyun pouted under his helmet. “Obviously, no.” Then, there was a pause, and he pressed a button on the command centre of the Thresher. It opened its door. “Whatever it was, it wants me to find it again.”

“Oh, that’s terrible!”

“What’s so terrible about a thing capable of corrupting memories?” Baekhyun said sardonically. He cocked the hand cannon Mongryong had given him expertly— how, he wasn’t sure, because he hadn’t bothered to handle the weapon since they had been in the Almighty and he had made it light up with blue fire. “It probably just wants us to say hi. No biggie.”

There was something wrong about this— every instinct in Baekhyun screamed at the Hunter not to go, not to listen, to leave and never come back if he could. To go back to the Last City Mongryong spoke of, to go back to the faceless Chanyeol who prodded at his wiped-out mind, to even go back to Nessus.

But the pull was stronger. So, so much stronger.

“You should stay here, Mongryong,” Baekhyun suggested. “It’s not safe for you.”

“It’s not safe for you, either, Captain,” Mongryong shot back. “And you’re not coming back without me! I’ll be careful! I will hide away!”

Mongryong disappeared right before Baekhyun’s eyes, who startled and then smiled, pleased.

“Neat trick!” He commended, looking around and not finding the Ghost anywhere.

“ _Thank you, Captain!_ ” Mongryong’s voice came from Baekhyun’s comm. “ _Let’s move onwards before I use the chip on your neck to sedate you and never come back!_ ”

“I could use you being a little less threatening,” Baekhyun observed, as he left the ship at last. Mongryong didn’t respond. All the better, because Baekhyun didn’t feel like talking.

He didn’t seem to get tired despite the walk he had to do from the crater towards the entrance of the keep, which only looked more imposing and lugubrious from up close. Still, there was no one around— no sort of guards, nor protectors, even if all logic told Baekhyun there should be. Its doors were wide open for him, and he got the feeling that he was expected.

The path down was a familiar one. Baekhyun did not need any memories to trigger him, as he descended down the encompassing darkness. The way felt like it was written down on Baekhyun’s soul. There were… More chains hanging from the high ceilings than he had seen, and the spikes coming out of the ground were sharper than he had imagined them to be. There was a sickening green glow coming from— were those plants, or rocks? Baekhyun didn’t want to touch them. They were the only source of light down here, and as the Hunter continued down seemingly endless sets of uneven stairs, gun always aimed forward, they became scarcer, to the point Baekhyun started to miss them.

A moth was disturbed and flew upwards when Baekhyun stepped particularly hard on the ground, when the darkness forced Mongryong to turn on a flashlight. Baekhyun watched it go and realised the atmosphere around them was rarefied. It was like there was a thin, swirling mist all around them, nearly invisible.

Before Baekhyun could question it, or mention it to Mongryong, there was a voice up ahead, barely a murmur. The Hunter aimed his light in the direction of it, alarmed, but there was only a glimpse of a crimson shadow that could’ve been just an illusion when his eyes settled on the corner.

“What… Was that?” He asked slowly, in a low voice. Mongryong didn’t say anything, and Baekhyun could feel the little light’s discomfort and uneasiness.

He was scared, too. But whatever pulled him didn’t relent, and he didn’t want it to.

Only a few metres forward, he had to jump down into absolute obscurity. Baekhyun did, and when he felt the fall would be too harsh on him, he just thought about somehow softening the blow— an energy came from his feet, boosting him back up and slowing him down. Landing gently, he didn’t have a moment to ponder this either, as skeletal beasts of scarlet chitin and pale flesh materialised from the void in front of them.

Baekhyun’s first instinct was to shoot them, and he pulled the trigger. The creature’s head exploded with Solar energy, and a worm was all that was left in the ground, as it screamed. Its friend –if one could call them that— screamed as well, a high-pitched cry that shook Baekhyun to the core, but other than that, it merely watched Baekhyun.

Baekhyun watched back. The whispering was cooing at him not to shoot. And so, he didn’t.

He approached the creature instead, taking in its sinewy yet ultimately fragmented form in. It was blind, or at least, it had no visible eye sockets, but it was still following Baekhyun’s movements like a predator watching its prey. Baekhyun took in its serrated smile, its razor-sharp claws, its heavy breathing. There was a worm inside its skull, Baekhyun realised with horror, writhing.

“What is this?” He asked Mongryong, but again, the Ghost didn’t answer. “Mongryong?”

Mongryong groaned, pained.

“ _It’s looks like a Thrall… From the Hive… Just not quite…_ ” Mongryong mumbled, clearly struggling. “ _Captain, I don’t really feel so good…_ ”

Thrall. Hive. It all sounded like Baekhyun should know them, but there more pressing matters at the moment. He wanted to go back to the surface, help Mongryong out, but then—

 _Just a little further._

_I’m waiting._

_I have something to show you._

Baekhyun straightened up, and he just passed the Thrall, which turned to watch him leave, but Baekhyun wasn’t worried it would attack him.

“Don’t worry, Mongryong,” He soothed his Ghost in a plain voice. “We’re almost there.”

He could see— not light, precisely, but the brightness of outside coming up. He wasn’t lying to Mongryong. They were at the end of this cave. He sped up just to get out faster, and the Hunter looked up to the sky beyond a sizeable rift.

There, was Earth. And there, on the rift, were unmoveable figures, silhouettes of… People?

“Do I have a sniper?” He questioned Mongryong absently, and wordlessly, the Ghost transmatted a weapon into his hand— it was white and refined, with blue koi painted onto its side, but Baekhyun didn’t examine them. He instead used the scope to be able to focus on the shadows.

They… Were like people. Only not. They were levitating, hunched over, motionless. Of a scarlet colour, dull and muted.

The whispers were louder here.

“ _The source of our… Interference… Should be right around there_ ,” Mongryong pointed out, still pushing himself. “ _They… Won’t hurt you anymore, Captain._ ”

Baekhyun had never imagined they would. He took a hesitant step further, and then another, and then another, until the rift was upon him and he was sliding down the rocky Moon. The path curved, and Baekhyun followed this movement, until there was a large cave opening to him.

There…

There it was.

The pyramid was enormous— Baekhyun felt like an ant in front of its intimidating form. It was completely black, shiny under the unfiltered light of the Sun, surrounded by the mysterious fog. Baekhyun would wager it was the source of it.

Baekhyun would wager it was alive, despite the pyramid not giving any indication that it was.

He had to get closer to it.

He had to jump down small canyons to be able to slip closer, and he realised it was so settled down in the abyss that he couldn’t even see its base. As he turned another corner, there were more of those scarlet shadows floating in the air, but this time, they didn’t disappear. They didn’t even acknowledge Baekhyun, even though he felt their formless eyes on him as he moved under them. He could hear them, as he drew closer to them— they screamed, too, like that Thrall, but it was distant even if he was right next to them.

“ _Something’s wrong, Captain,_ ” Mongryong mumbled, upset. “ _Someone is attempting to invade my Light. This is very not okay._ ”

“Just a little bit more,” Baekhyun pleaded. “I promise you, you’ll be okay.”

A promise he couldn’t keep. These shadows were— so loud. But they all disintegrated when Baekhyun looked back to them, and Baekhyun— he had bigger fish to fry.

And the pyramid— it was beautiful, in a fundamentally wrong sort of way.

Baekhyun felt a wonder like no other –that felt strangely familiar— as he gazed upon it, gaping. There was a part of him that wanted to recoil from it, get away, terrorised by its mere sight, but there was a bigger part of him that was entranced by it.

Baekhyun was hypnotised. Baekhyun was home.

 _Welcome._

_Our Chosen._

“Captain!” Mongryong was crying out in pain, but Baekhyun couldn’t listen. This was a keep. It kept _this_ hidden, locked away. It spoke to Baekhyun, from somewhere deep within his own heart. And it began telling him things. Showing him things.

There was a vision.

He had to get out of here.

Their second stop was, in Chanyeol’s opinion, unnecessary— but with their Ghosts working overtime in Baekhyun’s apartment, it was better than doing nothing at all.

It was truly amazing how the Seven Stars had been up and running the second they had retaken the City from the Red Legion, though Chanyeol supposed he shouldn’t have been that surprised. Hodong had flown in with Suho, and from what he had been told, the civilian had even fought alongside Guardians and soldiers, even if it was for the sole purpose of re-opening his shady bar. It was the only establishment working in the whole war-torn block, and it was just as raucous as it had been in the Farm.

“Have you ever been here before?” The Titan asked Sehun, wary. Sehun nodded as they walked down the street, dressed somewhat casually in clothes they had stolen from Baekhyun’s closet.

Apparently, the scavenger had a thing for oversized clothing. It worked perfectly for both Sehun and Chanyeol, even if Chanyeol would have felt more comfortable in his Sunbreaker armour. Rummaging through Baekhyun’s closet –a mix of mismatched armour sets and casual streetwear— had been painful enough. Spotting one of his ridiculous yet endearing ponchos all folded up, waiting for its owner, had made him sniff until Sehun kicked his shin.

He hadn’t been any less troubled, but the scent of Baekhyun had served to calm him down a little. That made him feel pathetic and comforted at the same time.

“I’ve actually come here with Jongin,” Sehun revealed. His black hair was still damp from the shower he had taken. Chanyeol had also taken one, but he had avoided the shampoo like the plague. “But not often, and not for long. I don’t actually remember seeing Baekhyun, but from what I’ve seen, it’s always pretty much the same crowd.”

The Seven Stars was somewhat of a tight-knit community, after all. Guardians and civilians mixed as equals there, from way before the Red War. They were big on loyalty and secrecy, but they weren’t closed off to outsiders, either. Chanyeol had spent more than one night in the Farm laughing and drinking there, but it wasn’t the same, he betted. After all, that had only been a temporary arrangement.

Janghoon, the absolute giant of a Titan, was the bouncer here, and he greeted the familiar faces of Chanyeol and Sehun with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms.

“The Traveller’s Chosen and Crota’s End,” The man –who even towered over Chanyeol, maybe even Kris, by at least twenty centimetres— saluted them blankly, albeit a little bit curious. “And out of your work clothes, too. To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“Hey, Janghoon,” Chanyeol nodded at him, with a polite smile and a nod. “We’re actually here on business. Is Lucas Wong inside?”

“Lucas Wong? Of course he’s inside,” Janghoon chuckled, but he still didn’t move from the door. “What do you want with him?”

“We just wanna talk,” Sehun interjected before Chanyeol could try to shove Janghoon away. “We’ll even buy a drink. We come here in totally good faith.”

Janghoon snorted, still not moving.

“You know, this is a semi-respectable establishment,” The bouncer drawled. “We only have five or six rules.”

He leaned forward, on Chanyeol’s space, lowering his voice.

“One of those rules is sharing business,” Janghoon continued, thoroughly amused with how pissed off Chanyeol was becoming. “To maintain the peace, you know?”

“You’re seriously asking me for glimmer right now?” Chanyeol asked, trying to keep his voice as even as possible. Janghoon smirked.

“I’m not really asking.”

“Don’t test me, Janghoon.” Chanyeol warned.

Janghoon shrugged, nonchalant. “I’m not really testing you either, Chanyeol. It’s the rules. If you can’t abide by them, I’m gonna have to kick you out.”

“We’re not even inside the bar!” Chanyeol exclaimed, incensed, but before things could escalate, Sehun was stepping forward, watch raised and face impassive.

“I’d say fifty glimmer is fair, right?” Sehun wondered, voice betraying nothing.

“Of course,” Janghoon chortled, and watched happily as Sehun transferred the glimmer to him. “I wouldn’t dare to ask for more in such trying times! We’re all in this together, aren’t we?”

Before Chanyeol could tell Janghoon to go fuck himself, the Titan was moving away from the door, and Sehun was grabbing onto Chanyeol’s nape, where his hair was already pretty long, pushing him forward and into the bar.

“We sure are,” The Hunter replied, with a fake cheerfulness and no smile. “Thanks, man. Appreciate it.”

Once they were fully inside, Sehun hissed to Chanyeol: “Dude. Don’t antagonise the bouncer, what the fuck?”

“He shook us down!” Chanyeol protested, though he was already scanning the crowd for Lucas. There he was— in the booth at the very back, laughing with some friends— was that Mark? “And you paid him off!”

Truthfully, Chanyeol didn’t even want to be here. However, Jongdae had made the case for their visit to the Seven Stars pretty convincingly.

“Lucas called Baekhyun from the Seven Stars the night of the invasion,” The Warlock argued. “We know Baekhyun worked with Lucas often. We still need answers on what Baekhyun did to Seungri, and Lucas is _definitely_ involved. He’s our best bet on understanding why Baekhyun’s encrypting his comm at all, and where would he go. Maybe he thinks the Vanguard wants to get him.”

“You heard the same thing I did, didn’t you?” Chanyeol had asked, serious and intense, running a hand through his hair. “Amnesia. There was blood on the Almighty and it was his. But Baekhyun wasn’t there. What are the chances Baekhyun—”

— _is a Guardian now?_

“—Why would he be helpful if Baekhyun might not even end up doing whatever he think he would do?” Chanyeol asked instead, voice tight.

“Baekhyun would still be Baekhyun,” Jongdae retorted softly, yet resolutely, understanding what Chanyeol was leaving unsaid. “Or haven’t you learnt yet that we don’t change?”

That had been that. Chanyeol was no longer sad, at least, but now he was on edge and even more eager to leave the City. The bare minimum would be to reach out to Baekbeom and tell him of their suspicions.

But that would have to wait. Lucas had spotted them, his big friendly grin slipping off his face and changing for an awkward, closed off expression instead. He was accompanied by that Warlock, the one who had helped Jongdae –Ten, Chanyeol’s mind supplied—, and the man was watching them with slanted eyes. Another head, honey-coloured like Jongin had once been, turned. Mark Lee stared at them with a stricken expression, and he shrunk in his seat.

Chanyeol frowned. Was he really that intimidating? Or was Mark Lee up to some bullshit?

“Probably both,” Sehun answered, and Chanyeol realised he had spoken aloud. “Lose the scowl. You’re scaring the children.”

Just to spite Sehun, Chanyeol changed his apparent scowl for the fakest grin he could muster. It was probably worse, with how even more alarmed Lucas and Mark looked, while Ten tilted his head to the side in curiosity. Sehun rolled his eyes but approached the booth anyway.

“H-Hey, it’s Sehun and Chanyeol!” Mark was the one to greet them with a nervous grin. “How’s it going? What brings you here? Hey, if you guys are still looking for a place to stay, at FWC we have—”

“—Thanks, but no thanks, Mark,” Chanyeol shut him down, straight to the point. “We found a place just today. Anyway, we’re here because we need to borrow you, Wong. So, you two?” He pointed to Mark and Ten. “You should probably find another table.”

“Oh, this is saucy,” Ten simpered, leaning his head over his palm, eyes jumping from the new arrivals to his friends with glee. “What could possibly make the Vanguard’s clan come all the way down to the Seven Stars and talk to little old Lucas?”

Chanyeol’s glare turned into a confused frown. “Excuse me?”

“It’s what they’re calling you, didn’t you know?” Ten asked, smirking a little, playful. It reminded Chanyeol of a cat, but not in the same way Jongdae reminded him of a cat. This was a mischievous cat. A cat with an agenda. “The Vanguard, Lay, Tao, Chen, D.O, Kai, Sehun here, Park, and even Baekhyun Byun. You’re a fireteam like no other, apparently. Rumour has it you have Luhan in your ranks, too? Is that real?”

“If we were,” Chanyeol contemplated it as Mark got up and made space for both Sehun and he on his side of the booth. It was a tight fit. Sehun was too long, and so was Lucas. “I’d ask for a better name than _the Vanguard’s clan_.”

“What are clans anyway?” Sehun wondered. Lucas, a bit more confident and less shell-shocked by their presence, made a gesture as if to wave it off.

“Oh, it’s a new thing,” The younger Titan explained, clearing his throat. “Byun Farm inspired. People don’t really want to deal with Faction-dictated fireteams, or just go on missions with whoever is available. We want people we can actually trust, now. Our friends and our family.”

Chanyeol nodded, taking it all in. It sounded nice, actually. If he could eventually focus on something other than finding Baekhyun, he would definitely mention the idea to the others. “Aren’t you all in Factions, though? How’s that gonna work?”

“Guys, let’s not talk Factions, please,” Mark begged, immediately exhausted, even if he caught himself pretty quickly. “I mean… You came here for a reason, right? It’s super late. I still have to check on Haechan tonight. What do you wanna talk about?”

“Well, since you’re asking so nicely,” Sehun was the one to begin, tone light. “We have some questions for Wong. Tell us everything about Baekhyun, Sungwoo, and you getting rid of Seungri and his crew, please.”

Lucas turned ashen, while Ten stiffened and Mark gaped like a fish at them. So, neither of them knew what Lucas had been up to— that was interesting.

“Do you _want_ me to get arrested, Oh?” Lucas muttered with gritted teeth, agitated, looking around to make sure no one was paying attention to them. “What the fuck?”

“Lucas, what did you do?” Mark questioned, a bit indignant and now extremely nervous. “Yo, Chanyeol, I swear I’ve got nothing to do with this—”

“—Yeah, jury’s still out on that one, Mark,” Chanyeol deadpanned, giving the small Hunter the same grin he had given him when Mark knocked him out of a Crucible match— cheerful and mad. “So, you and your Warlock friend are gonna get out, leave us with Lucas, and hopefully no one gets arrested. Aren’t we the Vanguard’s clan? Sounds like we have friends in high places, right, Sehun?”

“Can’t really go higher than that,” Sehun didn’t miss a beat. “And if you don’t cooperate, well, Luhan’s a bit rough around the edges, but you’ll cope with him in exile, right? Over the murder—”

Ten waved his hand suddenly, and around them, the bar quieted down. Chanyeol realised they seemed to be immersed in some sort of invisible bubble of Void Light. Impressive. Kids these days were really talented with their Light.

“You can’t speak so loudly if you’re gonna accuse my buddy of murder,” Ten scolded them, still cat-like, but no longer smirking. “The Seven Stars is discrete, but not _that_ discrete.”

Chanyeol chuckled dryly.

“We’re not accusing your buddy of murder,” He corrected in an innocent tone. “We just want answers about Baekhyun, and Lucas might have them.”

“Where even is Baekhyun?” Lucas demanded, straining to keep his voice down, despite the protective ward. When neither Sehun nor Chanyeol said a word, Lucas gave them a wide-eyed stare, realising their predicament. “You can’t find him.”

“We could use your help,” Sehun admitted, more serious now. “And given your history together, we guessed you’d know where he’d go.”

“We’re leaving,” Mark decided, and he tugged Ten by the collar of his robes to pull him up. “I-It was super nice to see you! I promise you, you won’t hear a single thing from us, Chanyeol. Ten’s charm should last you like, ten minutes. Yeah, it’s hilarious.”

“How are you okay with this?!” Ten questioned loudly, resisting Mark.

“ _Dude_ ,” Mark said simply, with feeling, as if that word held all the meaning in the world. “Let’s go.”

With that, the young Hunter was off, dragging the Warlock with him and leaving them with the guilty-looking Titan. Chanyeol turned back to look at Lucas, watching him carefully. The boy didn’t really say anything, waiting for them to talk.

“We know Baekhyun did something to Seungri, but we don’t know what,” Chanyeol finally started. “You’re the only one left alive that has any idea.”

Sehun gestured at the Titan to start talking. Lucas looked up to them cautiously, before sighing heavily and looking down at the table.

“I’m only doing this because things got way out of hand, okay?” The brunet started to justify himself. “I’m not a snitch, but— the Red Legion threw us in for a loop.”

For the first time, Chanyeol contemplated Lucas might actually be a good kid. Only a kid, too. Like all Guardians, he had probably bitten off more than he could chew— and the loss of the Light had been a wakeup call.

Relatable. Not that he would ever admit it to him.

“The boss –Sungwoo— had tossed a Corsair report from the Reef my way, about the portals in Cocytus acting up,” Lucas was being purposely vague, perhaps for the benefit of not admitting to anything incriminating. “Asked for the Skulking Fox, so I got Baekhyun and we made an agreement. It was all fairly standard up to that point.”

“What changed?” Chanyeol asked. Lucas’s expression darkened gloomily.

“Baekhyun changed,” He confessed quietly. “You know how, I suppose. When he returned… He was upset. With good reason, too. He demanded Sungwoo and I helped him to repay for what had happened to him, and we complied.”

Sehun looked down at the table, and began tracing a pattern on it slowly, while Chanyeol merely hummed in understanding.

“Baekhyun, Sungwoo, and I devised a plan for two months— a trap for Burning Sun, because what Baekhyun wanted was vengeance. Though now… I think what he wanted was guinea pigs,” Lucas frowned thoughtfully and shook his head. “To be honest, that’s what they were. Test subjects.”

“Test subjects for what?” Chanyeol pressed. Lucas seemed troubled, like he didn’t want to say it aloud.

“I called them Fake Taken,” Lucas said at last, and then dropped his voice to almost a whisper, which would’ve been intelligible with the background noise of the Seven Stars, but their noise bubble magnified it. “He called them Nightmares.”

“Fake Taken?” Sehun echoed. “What do you mean Fake Taken?”

“They looked like Taken, walked like Taken, fought like Taken, could even _Take_ like Taken,” Lucas described, voice deep and dark. “But they weren’t Taken. If you scanned them, they didn’t return anything. And they were very draining, like— being near to them. Bella –my Ghost— she kept saying it was as if they were trying to take her Light from her.”

Lucas paused.

“They couldn’t take any Light from Baekhyun, but I guess they were taking out _something_ from him,” The boy mused sadly. “He was always a laidback guy. He had a temper, but he’d come down quickly. Afterwards, it was like he couldn’t let anything go, and he was paranoid. Said he didn’t sleep much. He didn’t eat much. He didn’t even really take many contracts. He asked Sungwoo to encrypt his comm, so no one could contact him anywhere unless he wanted them to, and Sungwoo did it. I figured he’d just jump off the face of the Earth after we were done.”

No wonder the comm was so hard to crack. It was illegal Vanguard tech.

“Would he have jumped off the face of the Earth, though?” Sehun wondered. “Why not go to Baekbeom’s?”

“He didn’t want to risk his brother’s safety,” Lucas explained, making his drink swirl in his glass. “He was already using him as an alibi, and he said that was involving Baekbeom enough. But where he’d go… I don’t know. I don’t know what place would’ve been safe for him to lay low in.”

Lucas hummed, thinking. Then, he gasped. “Oh… Actually, I think I know.”

Chanyeol straightened up. Maybe coming here wasn’t such a bad idea. “You do?”

Lucas hesitated under Chanyeol’s intense gaze and Sehun’s lingering own on the other. “He didn’t tell me, but I overheard him, a week before the invasion. He was talking to a girl from Bol4— they were talking about a Hidden City in the Reef. One where he could ‘get healed’.”

So Jongdae had been right— Lucas could be useful. Chanyeol still sighed, deflating, because the whole point of Hidden Cities was in their name. They were hidden, and there was more than one. Only allies of the Awoken were allowed passage into them, and while Chanyeol had once impressed the Queen and the Prince with his recklessness, the Queen had been dead since the Taken War and the Prince had been presumed so, as well. Maybe Tao would be able to have more insight in this.

“So, the Reef, and with a hard pass on the Farm, you reckon?” Chanyeol asked to confirm. “When we decrypt Baekhyun’s comm, he’s gonna be there?”

Lucas nodded vigorously. Chanyeol sighed again. Traveller, he was so young. Maybe even more so than Sehun, even if he had been reborn before than the Hunter. With how tormented Lucas seemed, staring down at Sehun’s hands, Chanyeol had to suspect the Titan knew something about the invasion— Baekhyun’s connection to it, perhaps.

“Or somewhere familiar he could hide,” Lucas added after a moment. “Somewhere nobody knew about. So no one comes looking. Knowing Baekhyun, he has a whole exoplanet to himself somewhere.”

Sehun and Chanyeol shared a look. Sehun stood up first, and like a charm, the bubble Ten had created dissipated. The Seven Stars was terribly loud in comparison, and while they received some glances for other patrons –mostly interest and curiosity— no one seemed outright suspicious.

“Don’t say a word to anyone, or it’s gonna be your head on the line,” Chanyeol ordered Lucas as Sehun got up. “Play it smart. The Vanguard won’t come looking, so don’t go snooping around this either.”

“What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas.” Lucas joked without much mirth, attempting a smile. He looked like a puppy, when he bit his lip and asked, “Will you let me know if you find Baekhyun?”

“We’ll tell him you say hi.” Sehun offered instead. “See you ‘round.”

Just as quickly as they had come in, they were leaving. Janghoon called after them, taunting about how Sehun hadn’t bought the drink he had promised, but both Guardians ignored the other Titan as they power walked down the empty street. Once they were out of hearing range, Chanyeol groaned.

“That was a total bust,” The Sunbreaker muttered morosely. “And now Mark Lee, who can’t keep his nose out of anything, and that Ten guy are gonna be all over Lucas trying to get answers.”

“How the fuck is it a bust if we know Baekhyun’s heading for Nessus?” Sehun countered. “Which honestly, we should’ve figured— Mongryong knows that centaur like the back of his hand. Only we know about it.”

“But now we’re sure Baekhyun used the Darkness to get rid of Burning Sun,” Chanyeol retorted, because those weren’t good news. “Which means he knew what he was doing. Wong called them _test subjects_. What else did Baekhyun have planned? Honestly, all we’re missing is proof the Nine were involved and my whole world’s gonna crumble down.”

“I’m sorry for this, then,” Sehun said pre-emptively. He took Chanyeol’s hand suddenly and turned up his palm. Chanyeol watched him, not really understanding. “This was carved on the table. I never saw Baekhyun, but I always saw Lucas. He always sat in the same booth.”

Sehun began tracing a figure over Chanyeol’s palm. The blond focused on his movements, looking down intently even if the darkness of the night made it hard for him to make it out exactly.

A circle with two perpendicular lines. A circle followed by a triangle. A third circle, with one single line crossing it.

Fuck.

Chanyeol closed his eyes, frustrated. He yelled, angrily, and kicked a piece of debris strongly away. He walked a few steps away from Sehun, interlacing his fingers behind his head, and groaning again, this time more pitifully.

Chanyeol had known. He had known Baekhyun had helped the Nine let Ghaul and his Red Legion into the Last City. Had known Baekhyun was using the Darkness on purpose. He had known all of this, suggested it to his friends, but it wasn’t the same to have it confirmed.

Especially when Baekhyun wasn’t around to defend himself, or to at least distract Chanyeol.

“I hate,” Chanyeol began, his voice wobblier than he’d like, after some minutes in silence in the middle of the abandoned street. “I _hate_ when things aren’t black and white.”

Their second stop was familiar— at least, for Mongryong it was. They would be safe there, and Baekhyun had an unexplained need to see it.

“I had sworn I would never return to Nessus!” Mongryong chirped joyfully. “So that is a testament on how _bad_ our situation is, Captain!”

Baekhyun flew really fast for someone who had been reborn for a day and a half. It wasn’t even hard for him, and it proved to be a good distraction from the total meltdown both Mongryong and he were facing at this moment.

“Terrible!” Baekhyun agreed enthusiastically, laughing a bit hysterically. “This is so terrible, holy shit.”

Once that Pyramid was done showing Baekhyun all of its brothers and sisters coming for them, all nightmares ever made, eldritch shapes, black stars, and an actually really nice garden, a portal had opened up. Baekhyun, perturbed but alright, and Mongryong, very much not alright, had scrambled to get to the other side for a chance to escape the unabashed terror they both felt.

The Hunter had a lot of questions. Fortunately, or unfortunately, his old memories had a lot of answers.

So, Baekhyun had been literally sort of haunted to death. Most of the memories were filled with interference, hazy, like they were dreams —or nightmares— rather than things he had lived through in reality. Watching them, still, had been quite nerve-wrecking, triggering all sort of sensations in Baekhyun that he couldn’t place anywhere. It was made worse by the feeling that he wasn’t alone at any moment— and not exactly accompanied by Mongryong.

Still, Baekhyun got the gist of it. Curiosity had killed the cat. He had been the cat. He had tried to harness a power that couldn’t be harnessed so easily. Now, at least, he knew how such a tiny mortal had managed to take over the Almighty.

The Darkness was truly powerful and all-consuming. Baekhyun had resisted it until the very end. He had been alone, for the most part, until he hadn’t been. The faces of those who had tried to help him were murky, save for one.

Almond-shaped brown eyes. Blond hair. Really good arms. A deep, raspy voice. A warm smile, and even warmer hugs. _Chanyeol_. That had to be Chanyeol. Baekhyun’s heart raced at the mere possibility.

Who even was Chanyeol? Something kept the Hunter from asking Mongryong to show him.

“So, that Pyramid,” Baekhyun had said instead. “There’s… A bunch of them on their way to Earth right now.”

Its power was terrifying. It wanted to consume the Light that Mongryong emanated, but Baekhyun had managed to remain untouched by it. That was a mystery within itself, because he could still feel it, trying to get under his skin— it just never managed to get in.

Maybe it was already in.

“This is the sort of thing we need to warm the Vanguard about!” Mongryong suggested happily. Not being in the vicinity of the Pyramid had been a quick remedy. “I have strong evidence to support the hypothesis that those Pyramids must be directly responsible for the Collapse and death of the Traveller!”

The Collapse. Another thing Baekhyun only barely understood. Humanity had reached its pinnacle through the Traveller’s power, until the Darkness had found it, fully intent on destroying them all.

The Traveller had sacrificed itself back then, Mongryong told him— a tale the Ghost had heard second-handedly, as well. The Darkness had been driven away, at the price of civilisation. Ghosts like Mongryong had been released to find Guardians, heroes who would prevent the Darkness from encroaching on them ever again.

“You said the Traveller woke up, didn’t you? When you re’zzed me,” Baekhyun reflected on this, gnawing on the skin of his thumb thoughtfully. “What if those… Things woke up with it?”

“That’s a very big possibility, Captain!” Mongryong assured him. “What are your orders? My suggestions include contacting the Last City—”

“—We’re going to Nessus,” Baekhyun interrupted him. “We need to hide.”

“What in the world makes you think that’s the right course of action, Captain?” Mongryong asked, quite snarky, even if he was cheerful. Baekhyun shook his head.

“It really isn’t! I see that, I see how we should warn everybody of how there’s an imminent second Collapse coming,” Baekhyun admitted. “But I’ve got another gut feeling! And we’re gonna listen to it.”

“I am shocked that we have not yet established your gut feelings have never led us to anything good!”

“Give me a break!” Baekhyun protested. “We’re both alive, aren’t we?”

“No thanks to you!”

And now, here they were. On a hyper-fast track to an uncharted, unstable centaur. Mongryong, at least, had warmed up to the idea. They could make a new shell for him, Baekhyun had persuaded. Check on those pesky modules that didn’t allow Mongryong his total freedom. Think about things.

Think about this Chanyeol, the only person who had managed to breach the blank mind Baekhyun had been left with. Who was he?

It came as a surprise to both the Gunslinger and the Ghost when they came upon a fleet of Threshers, just like the one they were riding, on the way to Nessus, a little past Saturn. Baekhyun used the opportunity to seamlessly fit between the other Cabal ships— in the middle of a retreat, clearly.

Mongryong’s universal translator, embedded into Baekhyun’s neck, was quite handy. He could listen to the Cabal, voices rough and a bit angry, and _understand_ them. His vocal cords were nothing like theirs, though, he didn’t know anything about their culture other than the vague information Mongryong had, and Baekhyun didn’t dare to speak out to them.

Still, they had a lot to say. The Red Legion was scrambling to answer to another Cabal ship, which didn’t belong to them. It had given them an invitation, apparently. An offer for a life of opulence, from a guy called Emperor Calus.

Weird.

But, you know, whatever. It wasn't his problem. These Cabal we’re discussing the best ways to convert Nessus soil into royal wine and how to eat the planet, which was even weirder, but not the biggest concern Baekhyun had right now. This would be quick— Mongryong and he would slip by unnoticed into the Exodus Black, scavenge around it, eat something —the Hunter was very hungry!— and then be on their way. After all, the Darkness had a fleet of Pyramids coming their way. They had to deal with that. Hopefully, not on their own.

It turned out not to be very quick.

In fact, Baekhyun and Mongryong spent days huddled up in the Exodus Black’s old cabin, right by Mongryong’s old supercomputer. Baekhyun wasn’t so sure why Mongryong hated the unstable centaur so much— if they avoided the Fallen trying to scavenge what was left of the Exodus Black –which made Mongryong very upset about the Kris Wu, whoever it was, for leading them here— or the Cabal preparing the planet for its consumption –what the fuck was up with that, Baekhyun would rather not know— or the Vex robots searching for lifeforms to convert –a very painful process, Mongryong assured Baekhyun— Nessus was actually really nice. The weather was good, the plant life was gorgeous, and while it was hard to tell on sight which water was water he could drink and which water was water that would kill him, Baekhyun thought it was a small problem, in the grand scheme of things.

They were, after all, due for an apocalypse soon. Those Pyramids meant business. Did it really make a difference if Baekhyun went to relax somewhere no one would find him for a bit? If he liked to take hikes towards a large radiolaria waterfall and bathe in the non-toxic pond by the Exodus Black’s main cabin. If he ate Mongryong’s centuries-old leftover dehydrated rations and slept on a large branch of a tree. He had no recollection of who he was or who he knew, other than that pesky Chanyeol. Even that man was a blurry shape. And he was in no rush to see them.

He would be lying, of course. Baekhyun felt quite in a rush to see them, actually. He wanted to go to a farm— he had no idea why that was a thought he often had. But he was also paralysed by fear— as if he would disappoint whoever was waiting for him. And therefore, the logical solution seemed to hide. He was good at hiding from his emotions, even if during their third night, he had caved in and sent out a message to the first receiver his comm indicated— a place called ‘home’.

He was good at hiding from alien life, too. Apparently, it had been part of skillset in his previous life. Mongryong was good at keeping him alive. Certainly, it had to do with how that had always been his objective— making sure his crew survived.

Okay, so maybe Baekhyun could sort of understand why Mongryong hated Nessus. As the Hunter measured the little light during their third day in the centaur, and then carved that height on metal scraps they had found and dragged into the cabin, Mongryong was awfully quiet.

“What are you thinking about?” Baekhyun had asked, finally, taking the small laser Mongryong had provided him with and cutting the metal as precisely as he could. Mongryong couldn’t keep walking around with his caved in shell like that. He needed a little bit of protection.

“I am thinking about death, Captain!” Mongryong answered happily. “Everyone I’ve ever known in this planet is dead and their bones are dust!”

Bad memories. That’s all Mongryong had. Perhaps, the giant, luscious red trees of Nessus weren’t enough to distract the Ghost, like they could distract Baekhyun from the memories he no longer held and had purposely left behind.

The Hunter broke off the tiny piece of metal when it was loose enough. If he found a way to bend the metal, it would serve prettily as part of Mongryong’s shell. Ugh. Whatever peace he had been reborn with was now gone.

“Should we go back?” Baekhyun asked suddenly as he attempted to fit the piece over Mongryong’s tiny form, and Mongryong instantly perked up. “Have I been running away?”

“Yes, Captain, you have been in fact running away!” Mongryong said immediately, overjoyed. The piece of metal clicked, and it looked cute, in a kitbashed sort of way. “But it’s okay! I decided to let you realise this on your own, and it worked! I have been waiting for this moment for— intruder alert!”

Baekhyun turned quickly to the entrance of the cabin, gun drawn. There, standing quieter than a mouse, was a boy, a bit worse for wear and kind of wet but unarmed. He flinched a little when Baekhyun turned, big dark eyes growing a little bit more in alarm, but his expression remained blank. Behind his head, there was a Ghost, just like Mongryong, watching them carefully.

“Threat assessment, Mongryong.” Baekhyun was the first one to speak, albeit hesitantly. He even began lowering the Ace of Spades a little, slow and cautious. Mongryong scanned the boy and the Ghost.

“Threat assessment performed— this Guardian is negative five point sixty-eight of a threat to us, Captain!” Mongryong declared, and only then the boy made a face.

“Am I really that pathetic?” He joked, voice a bit deeper than Baekhyun would have imagined from such a… Delicate-looking person. He made up for that small whiplash with how shy he sounded. His Ghost huffed.

“It’s because you could never harm another being of the Light, my child,” She appeased him, but it sounded like she actually believed this staunchly. “Also, you’ve never managed to make a gun work, no matter what I teach you.”

Baekhyun gasped, completely breaking the character of the ruthless Hunter he had wanted to go for. “Wait, really? It’s so easy!”

“Maybe to you,” The boy retorted, though not unkindly. He seemed a bit more relaxed with Baekhyun’s expression of surprise. Very trusting. “It’s just not for me.”

Since it was established that the boy was not a threat, Baekhyun put the hand cannon down, sighing. He was still wary, because Nessus was supposed to be devoid of any human life, and unless the boy was some sort of shapeshifter, he looked pretty human to Baekhyun.

Mongryong didn’t seem to have the same qualms as his Hunter. In fact, the Ghost blinked a couple of times, and then, he was going up to the boy without any sort of warning. The boy wasn’t really surprised, however, and smiled at Mongryong sweetly. He was sort of elegant, with his warm brown hair and fair skin, Baekhyun thought. Kind of… Princely.

“Hello,” The prince boy greeted Mongryong as the damaged Ghost flew close to him, unbothered by the invasion to his space. “How are you, little light?”

“So much better now that you’re here,” Mongryong said dreamily. What?

“Mongryong, come back here.” Baekhyun ordered, more bewildered than angry.

“I’m sorry, Captain!” Mongryong replied but didn’t actually come back. “It’s just— this Guardian shines from within very much! It is very distracting!”

“It’s worse for the unmatched ones,” The other Ghost said knowingly and proudly. “But he’s mine, so back off.”

Baekhyun frowned, confused, but he understood what they meant. The boy was— there was just something about him. A part of Baekhyun wanted to bask in his presence, while the rest of him wanted to— hiss and hide away.

“How did you guys get here?” Baekhyun asked. “I thought Nessus was supposed to be uncharted.”

“We hitched a ride with the Red Legion,” The boy explained, growing a bit serious as he said this. There was something— regretful? “I couldn’t bear to stay in the City. It was just too loud, and too confusing. Now, I’m okay, but we had no way of going back…”

“Until we realised you two were here, as well,” The Ghost finished for the boy. “We figured you should be on your way back, considering…”

She trailed off, and Baekhyun waited for a bit before, “Considering…? Considering what?”

It was the boy turn to blink, as if he expected Baekhyun to know what he was talking about. Baekhyun— had an inkling.

“I _know_ you saw it too,” The boy said after a while, certain and confident. “She told me so. You saw the Darkness, and how it’s coming to us. An army of those… Those… Knives.”

“The Pyramids,” Baekhyun realised, looking at the boy with wide eyes. The boy nodded, and the smile he gave Baekhyun was a distantly pleased one.

“So, you _have_ seen them,” He observed. “The Traveller showed you.”

Baekhyun bit his lower lip. Hummed. Looked down to the floor and avoided answering directly. “Not exactly.”

“Oh,” The boy intoned, and there was a heavy pause. When he spoke next, it was understanding, no judging in his voice. “That explains your… Aura. You must be the one.”

“The one… What?” Baekhyun urged, getting a little bit frustrated and somehow understanding what the boy wanted to say— he just— he couldn’t grasp it. “Do you always talk in riddles like this?”

The boy laughed softly. “Yeah. I’m sorry, my mind is kind of muddled.”

“I can relate to that,” Baekhyun acquiesced, but he also didn’t why he could. He changed the subject instead. “Well, to answer your question— yeah, I think it’s time we go to this Last City. See it for myself and… Warn the Vanguard, I suppose. You can come with us. I wouldn’t leave you here, anyway.”

 _I wouldn’t leave a kid all alone with no way to defend himself in Nessus_ , Baekhyun didn’t say. But with how thankful and relieved the boy looked when he grinned at the Hunter, the message was loud and clear.

“Thank you so much!” The boy exclaimed, bouncing a little on his spot. Baekhyun took a good look at him— his armour wasn’t armour, but rather, white robes that had been torn to shreds. He had probably washed up somewhere, but he looked tiny and vulnerable. Yeah, Baekhyun couldn’t leave him.

“No problem, uh…” Baekhyun started but didn’t finish. “I’m sorry, we never even introduced ourselves. I’m Baekhyun Byun, and this is—”

“I’m Mongryong! Call me Mongryong!” Mongryong introduced himself, merry, twirling around the boy coquettishly. Was Mongryong flirting?

“—What are your names?” Baekhyun asked, watching Mongryong for a moment then back to the newcomers.

The boy and his Ghost shared a look.

“Actually,” The boy was back to looking shy, as he wrung his hands. “We don’t have names.”

“Neither of us have any need for them,” The Ghost explained, calm. Baekhyun cocked his head at them, because that didn’t make any sense. “They’re meaningless to us. We are our role and nothing more.”

The boy didn’t look particularly happy about that –he even seemed sad— but he didn’t fight his Ghost, hard and resolute as she was.

“Really? What do your friends in the City call you, then? Guardian and Ghost?” Baekhyun quipped, but it was weak. The boy’s expression told him it wasn’t actually that far from the truth, and aw, that was just sad. “I’m not calling you Guardian and Ghost. We’re giving you names.”

“We don’t need them.” Countered the Ghost, a bit angrily. However, the boy spoke up at the same time, blurting out: “Please name us!”

“You’re the boss, little guy,” Baekhyun cooed, even though it seemed like the boy was actually a bit taller than he was. He was just too innocent, or at least, looked that way, for Baekhyun to actually take him seriously. “We’ve got tons of names! A whole crew of them, in fact.”

“Oh!” Mongryong exclaimed excitedly. “We do! Nothing would make me happier than giving members of my crew a second chance at life through this beautiful, shiny Guardian and this Very Unfriendly Ghost!”

“Excuse me?” The Ghost grumbled.

“I’m sorry, I meant to say that I do not like you!” Mongryong clarified cheerfully, and oh, that wasn’t much better. Then, he was turning to the boy: “I would treat you much, much better, Precious Guardian! I would let you have a name!”

“I found him first!” The Ghost protested jealously.

“I thought you said I was perfect for you?” Baekhyun wondered with a pout to Mongryong, feeling a bit jealous himself.

The boy at least looked a bit guilty now. “I’m sorry! It’s the Light in me. Ghosts really like it. It’s very close to the Traveller.”

“So turn it off, kid,” Baekhyun muttered, a bit ticked off but instantly soothed by the kid’s earnest face. “Not all of us have special Lights.”

The boy gave Baekhyun those wide eyes again. “You do.”

“Stop with the cryptic shit!”

It was a whole day later that Baekhyun, Mongryong, the Guardian and the Ghost found themselves in Baekhyun’s now-totally-his Thresher. The only thing that distinguished it from the other Cabal Threshers skulking around the skies of Nessus was the lavender-shaded paint the boy had found between the Exodus Black’s remains not even Baekhyun had explored through, and Baekhyun automatically decided he needed messily slapped over the Thresher’s side. It was more than enough.

The boy was interesting. He was definitely hiding something, though Baekhyun felt no need to call him out when _he_ was definitely hiding something— he just didn’t know what. In the meantime, the boy retold Baekhyun of how they had escaped the Red Legion.

“They brought me in from the City when they lost it to the Guardians,” He had explained as he watched Baekhyun tangle up some wire to hold Mongryong’s metal shell together. “That moment when the Light was released… It was very revitalising.”

Baekhyun smiled, because he could relate in the weirdest way. “How did you hide for so long without a gun?”

It was a valid question, considering how innocent the boy was as he jumped from rock to rock like a child, or how he squeaked with laughter when he slipped and fell into the water— the good water, not the murderous, milky kind. Baekhyun was actually surprised that he had survived so long in Nessus at all, but apparently, he had managed to catch a bird or two at some point to feed himself. He had also tried some of the plants. If it killed him, his Ghost just brought him back.

Baekhyun was… Surprised by this resilience. The boy, however, didn’t seem to think the same, as he frowned in confusion at the question.

“What do you mean?” He asked back. “The Red Legion had orders not to hurt me.” Baekhyun gave him a raised eyebrow, but the boy kept talking as if that wasn’t strange at all. “Once we were out of Earth, they weren’t sure what to do with me. Then the Emperor reached out and invited them over for the life of opulence and all that, right?”

“Right,” Baekhyun echoed dumbly.

“They figured I could be a nice war trophy to give as a good faith gesture,” The boy continued with a shrug, as if he wasn’t spewing total nonsense to Baekhyun. “So I ran away as soon as we touched ground.”

“The Red Legion had orders not to hurt you?” Baekhyun decided to focus on the least confusing aspect of the story. The boy nodded again, which only served to flabbergast Baekhyun further. “By _who?_ ”

The boy blinked blankly. “By the Dominus, of course. Who else?”

What?

Still, Baekhyun had been endeared. There was something cute about the boy, who had only asked for a name once. The boy needed protection, and Baekhyun had figured he would be the one to give it to him. As the boy nearly stumbled into a cave filled with Fallen at night, and Baekhyun had to make his own presence known to the four-armed creatures and get rid of them, this was proven to be true. The boy was a creature of peace, to put it kindly.

Mongryong had taken the request for a name very seriously. He had been revising the list of his crew members and anyone associated with the Exodus Black for hours at night, to be able to present it to the boy. Once they were settled in the Thresher, as Baekhyun took off, his Ghost presented them.

“Emmanuel! Sidney! Eren! Alexander! Dinanatha! Elikai! Joshua! Najjad! Soterios! Xavier!” Mongryong shared each name with a pause in between, waiting for one that triggered some sort of reaction from the boy. So far, they had had no luck— only a blank expression. “Gaizka! Jesús! Liam! Nagpal! Salvatore! Vaikuntha! Hendery!”

The boy perked up, jumping suddenly. “That one! The last one! Hendery! That’s the one I like.”

Baekhyun wrinkled his nose. “Really? _That’s_ what you’re choosing?”

“Yes!” The boy— well, _Hendery_ now, said happily, and Baekhyun was certain Mongryong just sighed dreamily at the sight of his grin. “Now we just need a name that will go along with it for Ghost!”

“Great choice, Guardian Hendery! Hendery used to be my favourite colonist number one hundred and one!” Mongryong praised cutely. “As for your Unfriendly Ghost—”

“—I am right here—” The Ghost complained grumpily.

“—How about Hengwai? That was Hendery’s sister!”

“Hengwai!” Hendery repeated, excited, clapping delicately and seriously, what was up with this dude? He was so… Royal. “I love it! Hengwai! You have a name now, too!”

“I’m so excited!” Hendery said as they broke orbit. “I can’t wait to introduce myself to people. Hello! My name is Hendery!”

“You’ve been really sheltered, huh?” Baekhyun commented, smirking just a little.

“Yes.” Hendery answered, uncomplicated and relaxed, smiling, but he didn’t elaborate further.

“And the Dominus –is that Ghaul?— he told his Legion not to hurt you, and _they_ wanted to give you to that Calus guy who wants to eat Nessus?” Baekhyun continued, just to confirm what he had been told the day before. Hendery hummed in agreement, and Baekhyun snorted. “Are you City royalty? Does the Last City have royalty, Mongryong?”

“I do not know this, Captain!”

“I’m not, though,” Hendery interjected softly, a bit sad, though he didn’t lose his smile. “I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. No one cares I left, nor that I’m going back. I just think that it’s the right thing to let the Vanguard know what’s coming, but there’s no one out there for me.”

Baekhyun bit the inside of his cheek, feeling guilty. He looked down at his watch, which lit up when it sensed his gaze. It was always giving him a time and date, from a place abbreviated as EDZ.

Baekhyun knew there was someone waiting for him. And they couldn’t reach him. One message wouldn’t be enough to settle them. While sitting next to Hendery, who seemed at peace or resigned by his own loneliness, Baekhyun couldn’t find reasoning in his actions.

Maybe it was time to call, as he had promised.

“Mongryong, can you do me a favour?”

Their third stop was somewhere Chanyeol would have rather never visit again— it was the crime scene, after all.

The Almighty, in all its terrible glory, had been abandoned by the Red Legion like an enormous piece of junk, for the Sun to eventually burn out and consume. It was a gigantic waste of resources, Commander Suho would tell them, but it would be a good place to scavenge once the dust settled.

“Which is why we need you to secure it,” Suho explained, trying not to look bothered at the deep scowl Chanyeol was making at him. “Do this for us, and you’ll be free to go for Baekhyun Byun wherever you must go.”

“It won’t be any trouble for you two,” Xiumin added placatingly, when neither Sehun nor Chanyeol readily agreed to Suho’s request. Kris hadn’t joined them this morning. “The Red Legion are retreating all over the System— and… _My_ Hidden have reported at least two platoons heading into an unknown direction, right behind Neptune.”

The Warlock’s voice was full of implication. That was where Nessus was currently orbiting. And where Baekhyun’s decrypted comm actually placed him— or had placed him, three days before. The scavenger was back to being cloaked, but no longer unreachable. Toben had woken up Chanyeol in a frenzy that morning, when it was only dawn and the Titan had been thoroughly snuggled in Baekhyun’s sheets, just to tell him that.

“We cracked the code, _and_ Mongryong sent me something!” The Ghost broke the news to Chanyeol, practically vibrating with excitement.

“What?!” Chanyeol yelled loudly, completely awake at that moment. “What did he say?!”

Toben immediately replayed the message.

“ _Friendly Ghost Toben, this is Mongryong! Call me Mongryong!_ ” Mongryong’s happy voice was so soothing, Chanyeol’s shoulders sagged in relief as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “ _I am terribly sorry for the radio silence. You may have inferred by now the Captain is very stubborn, and I was uncertain on the best course of action at the beginning! These past few days have been very confusing for the both of us! I am like you now!_ ”

Mongryong was a Ghost, now. Chanyeol imagined it had something to do with the Traveller waking up from its deathly slumber. The confirmation of what Chanyeol suspected –feared— did strange things to him. The blond Titan was unsure on how he felt. Was he happy Baekhyun was alive? Was he worried about what the scavenger remembered? Was he dying to see Baekhyun? Or was he afraid to?

“ _I have finally convinced the Captain to go back!_ ” Mongryong continued happily. “ _Hush, Captain! I used inverse psychology techniques on you! You would not understand! Anyway, Toben— we are on our way. We must re-visit a certain spot of our travels first, but rest assured we are excited to meet you!_ _Goodbye!_ ”

Honestly, what else did a Sunbreaker in love need? Chanyeol had torn Sehun from his own bed —much tinier than Baekhyun’s, since he had received the smallest room— screaming about how they needed to leave for their meeting with Suho right that second. Jongdae had barely managed to get Chanyeol to eat something before he was dragging the Hunter to the rebuilding Tower.

So, all in all, it wasn’t hard for Xiumin and Suho to convince them of going to the Almighty— just a lot of scowling and deadpan stares involved. _One last push_ , Chanyeol would think to himself every time he felt a smidge of rebellion growing in him, that told him to turn this City Hawk around in the opposite direction and find Nessus instead. Sehun being asleep the whole trip helped, because the Hunter would have probably coaxed Chanyeol to follow his gut instead. However, as soon as Chanyeol spotted multiple Threshers and Harvesters around the Almighty, his goal changed.

He punched Sehun’s shoulder lightly to wake the Hunter up. Sehun startled, grumbling a little, blinking blearily.

“Are we there yet?” The black-haired man wondered, voice still raspy with sleep. Chanyeol nodded with a hum and pointed outside of the City Hawk, to the idle ships, before diving into one of the energy tubes that had once powered the Almighty’s weapon.

“Those weren’t here when we came here with Lay,” Chanyeol notified Sehun, who looked a little bit more awake as he frowned. “Why would the Red Legion come back?”

Sehun pursed his lips as he made a grab for his helmet gingerly. “I don’t know about you, Chanyeol, but I’d _definitely_ want my Sun-eating gun back if I had lost it.”

“Fair,” The Titan conceded as he approached Starboard Landing. There was another Thresher there, seemingly abandoned, but it had a light purple stripe on its side. The Red Legion must’ve had a rough last two weeks. “Get ready for a fight.”

And usually? Chanyeol would’ve loved a good fight. But securing the Almighty for the Vanguard when there was only two of them was going to be work enough. He couldn’t wait to be out of here.

The Almighty was not packed with Cabal, but it wasn’t empty, either. As Sehun and Chanyeol made their way to what Vivi signalled as the bridge, they encountered quite a few Legionaries and Psions— however, they also encountered charred dead bodies. Were Cabal fighting among themselves? And the Almighty, while too big for them to perceive its movements, was making a strange whirring sound all across it.

Chanyeol had a bad feeling. And so did Sehun.

“You know what?” The Nightstalker prompted when they came to a crossroad of sorts, after Sehun had shattered the Phalanx who was guarding its shield with one arrow, dead on its centre, and Chanyeol had shot the creature’s torso to finish them off. “You go ahead and make your way up. I’m gonna go see the engines of this thing— something’s not right.”

Chanyeol nodded. “Don’t take too long. I’ll see you there!”

With that, they were separated. It wasn’t long before Chanyeol was regretting that decision, even with the Cerberus+1. He still needed to learn how to control its unruly fire and switching with Acantha-D that wasn’t quite an Acantha-D was uncomfortable at best when Psions were such precise shooters. One of them nearly got Chanyeol’s head with their slug rifle. Traveller, how Chanyeol hated them. He had been relatively apathetic to the Cabal before the Red War— now he just despised them. Chanyeol shot back at the Psion.

“ _I just found the central manifold,_ ” Sehun suddenly was coming in through Chanyeol’s comm. “ _And I’ve got weird news and weirder news._ ”

“What?” Chanyeol exclaimed as he took cover from constant shooting behind a door, and shot back in intervals, trying to achieve some sort of control over the Cerberus+1. His head just wasn’t in the game. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“ _Weird news or weirder news first?_ ” Sehun asked, but Chanyeol was blowing the head off a Legionary and took too long to answer for the other man. “ _Okay, so weird news— Vivi’s telling me the Cabal disabled the manoeuvring thrusters._ ”

Chanyeol had to take a moment. What? Why would the Red Legion— ugh. This wasn’t going great. “They killed the steering on this thing?”

There was an explosion large enough that the whole Almighty shook. Shit. Chanyeol called back for Sehun: “Any idea on what the fuck was _that_?”

“ _Let us check the consoles,_ ” Sehun was saying, and Chanyeol used the respite to rush forward, grabbing a Psion by its head and smashing it against the wall. Another Psion met a similar fate as Sehun kept talking: “ _The explosion came from the… Propulsion deck? They’re taking out the primary engine?_ ”

“Is that the weirder news?” Chanyeol wondered as he threw a Solar grenade forward. Sehun huffed.

“ _Actually, no— the weirder news was to tell you the Cabal here were dead already. We’re not alone here. Have you made it to the bridge yet?_ ”

Chanyeol sighed heavily. Why did everything have to be so complicated?

His fists were engulfed in flames as he decided he would just have to run his way to the bridge. His Hammer of Sol was like an adrenaline shot. He had missed this so badly. Chanyeol breathed in the scent of fire, relishing on it, before he launched it into the small cluster of Psions that had been making his life impossible at the end of the hall. His Solar energy had come back with a vengeance, and he watched as his hammer embedded itself on the sealed door to the bridge and _melted_ it.

“ _Now_ I’m on the bridge.” He announced to Sehun, as he made his way through the door, and found himself staring at the corpse of a Psion, a bunch of broken down and burning consoles, and—

“—Baekhyun?”

Their third stop hadn’t been planned— Hendery had requested for it, because apparently, he had seen it in a dream and wanted to see how the real thing compared.

Not that Baekhyun really minded. It gave him a little more time to wrap his head about how he would see people who knew him –but that he didn’t know— soon. It gave him another thing to focus on, rather than this terrible indecision— should he watch his memories and pretend he remembered? Or was he better off being honest? So far, everything he had seen had been… Muted. But also, there hadn’t been anyone in what he asked Mongryong to show him. Even if the image of the mysterious Chanyeol kept pushing, even if he kept thinking about farms, about brothers, about bars, about Hunters like him— nothing had a face clear enough. Every night there was a ghost of something, and then, whenever he tried to concentrate on understanding what he saw, the images would disappear, as dreams tended to do.

But yeah. If Hendery wanted to see the Almighty up close, then Baekhyun would take him to see the Almighty up close. It was a good distraction from the inevitable.

“You remember where to land, Captain?” Mongryong commented as Baekhyun lead the Thresher down to a landing through a large gap of heat and energy on the side of the Almighty. Baekhyun blinked and Mongryong gushed. “Wow! Truly, this is the third place you have taken us to blindly! You are a fascinating study subject!”

“You haven’t been reborn for long?” Hendery wondered. Baekhyun shook his head.

“Mongryong got to me when the Traveller revived,” The Hunter explained, setting up everything for transmat— huh. He really did a lot of stuff without thinking about how to do them. “It’s been, what, a week and a half?”

“You died during the resistance,” Hendery realised— or remarked, as if he was stating a fact. His expression, when Baekhyun turned to look at him, betrayed absolutely nothing, but it was sweet and open. “Commendable.”

Baekhyun watched him, before fitting his helmet over his head and securing it. He gestured Hendery to do the same, but when the boy didn’t move, Baekhyun took the matter into his own hands and put it on him himself. “I suppose, but I don’t remember… Most of it. What about you?”

“It’s been a couple of months, I think,” Hendery answered, reminiscing. “Before that, who knows? We remember what we want to remember. We forget at will. The Light doesn’t decide that for us.”

Baekhyun chose not to comment on that. Instead— “We’re going down, now. Do you know where you want to go?”

Hendery wanted to fucking sightsee, Baekhyun thought. He kept talking about how the engines were important, and really, Baekhyun reckoned there were much better places to go in the Almighty— there were large windows that gave way to the Sun. They could stare at it until their eyeballs melted. The engines _had_ to be the least interesting place in the whole craft.

Until Baekhyun realised it wasn’t empty.

There were Psions there— lithe creatures that weren’t Cabal, but worked alongside with them, as Mongryong had explained to him. They were the brains of most equations. They were also telepathic and telekinetic. A hassle, Baekhyun figured, and they were— doing something to the engines, working over the consoles. The Hunter thanked whatever deity watched over him for his light feet, and that he was able to hide Hendery behind his back, because of course the kid had refused the Cadenza rifle Baekhyun offered him.

The chip on Baekhyun’s neck prickled as it attempted to pick up on the foreign words of the Cabal, but he couldn’t manage to listen in. The thrusters of the Almighty were working full power, and then, suddenly, they were stopping, and the three Psions celebrated.

Baekhyun cocked his head to the side, trying to make sense of this. Perhaps he projected this emotion too hard, or perhaps Hendery did— but then one of the Psions was looking up, and screeching.

“Guardians!” The word was spit out with both hatred and fear, intelligible for anyone but Baekhyun, but still, Hendery flinched behind him. The Hunter didn’t think about— the bullet was fired before Baekhyun himself realised, and the Psion exploded in flames and his closest companion went down with him. The third Psion cried out, and fired his own slug rifle, but Baekhyun was quicker.

Hendery breathed a sigh of relief. Baekhyun bristled, trying on his most stern voice. “Don’t get comfortable! They couldn’t have been alone, Hendery. You _will_ take the Cadenza. Or a knife!” He paused, frowning. “I’ve gotta get me some knives. I feel naked without one for some reason.”

“It’s because you’re a Hunter,” Hengwai offered. “You need them for tight spots.”

“What were they even doing?” Hendery was ignoring them, examining the consoles and the thrusters that towered over them. “Why would they stop… These things?”

“They’re the mav thrusters, what allows them to drive the Almighty around,” Baekhyun said, and then mumbled to himself as he realised the meaning of his own words: “They killed the steering on this thing?”

Why? If Baekhyun had a Sun-eating gun all abandoned like this, he’d want to get it back. Not leave it to float without any sort of direction.

“Captain, we could get more information if we went up to the bridge!” Mongryong suggested cheerfully. Baekhyun nodded, serious, and then turned to Hendery. He offered him the Cadenza once more. Hendery only hesitated for a moment, to his credit, before taking it.

The way to the bridge wasn’t long, fortunately, but Baekhyun was right— those Psions weren’t working alone, but they were only the first few. The Gunslinger could shoot fast, faster than he himself had ever imagined, and sometimes, the blue fire he had summoned upon those first moments reborn came back, engulfing the Ace of Spades, making it more powerful, even faster than before.

But they weren’t fast enough. An explosion startled them, coming from some nearby deck in the direction they were heading to. Baekhyun and Hendery shared a look.

The door to the bridge sensed their movement when they stood before it and began to move. Baekhyun shielded Hendery just as a shot came from inside, even if it got him on the shoulder. He could still shoot back, and he did, taking satisfaction on the very last Psion burning into a crisp.

Except, all of the bridge was burning, too.

“What—” Baekhyun hissed in pain, even if Mongryong was working on him already. He had been healed a couple of times before, and it always left him tingly and energised. They stepped inside the bridge fully, and Hengwai scanned the command deck. “What happened here?”

“They’ve destroyed the ship’s navigation system,” Hengwai told them, bewildered. “None of this makes sense. No navigation, no engine, no way to change course…”

“…It’s like they want this thing to drift off into space forever.” Baekhyun commented, thoughtful. He took off his helmet, a bit frustrated, to be able to tug at his tangled mess of a hair. He needed a comb. He walked around the bridge, slowly, trying to find a clue. He found it by Hendery, who was standing in front of a holographic map of—

“—Earth,” Hendery finished the thought for him, as if reading it on Baekhyun’s face. “And the Traveller. This isn’t forever.”

“They want it to crash on the Traveller,” Baekhyun realised with a sinking stomach. Then, he whistled. “That’s commitment.”

There was shooting outside, all of the sudden, and then, a heavy sound— Baekhyun could only liken it to metal hitting metal, over and over again. It was coming their way. Baekhyun dropped his helmet –probably not his smartest move— as Hendery scrambled to being his shadow once more. The Hunter aimed the Ace of Spades forward, blue fire roaring, and they waited.

They didn’t have to wait long. Something hit the doors to the bridge, making the metal become red with heat, and actually _melt_ at a rapid pace— as if they were exposed to the Sun itself. This scared Baekhyun, because what the fuck could even _do_ that, but it was the deep, raspy voice what made a shiver run down his spine strongly.

“ _Now_ I’m on the bridge,” The giant of a man had to duck to pass through the melting doors, but it didn’t seem to bother him. While Baekhyun couldn’t tell with his skimming over bulky copper orange and black armour, he could tell the man was big. He had an equally big, barely-held-together rifle in his hands, and he was looking around, taking in the scene, like he hadn’t even realised Baekhyun was there, and his fire had died, and he was so tense, Baekhyun was actually sweating, what the fuck, and then the man looked up—

“—Baekhyun?”

The gravelly voice was so desperate at that moment. Baekhyun didn’t know what the man saw, but the Hunter’s cheeks heated up, his whole body thrumming with— with something. He lowered his gun instantly, because he knew this man wouldn’t actually hurt him. Fuck. Why was his heart beating so fast?

And then the man was tearing off his helmet, and dark, wide almond-shaped eyes stared at Baekhyun, mouth hanging open, blond hair all over. Baekhyun knew immediately who he was staring at, his own expression lighting up.

“Chanyeol,” He breathed, and the man looked so relieved to hear that, so Baekhyun _knew_ he was right. “You’re Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol was frozen on the spot, looking like an overgrown kicked puppy who didn’t know what to do. Mongryong floated forward, twirling in joy. A Ghost, shining like a gentle blue star, transmatted by Chanyeol’s head.

“Guardian Chanyeol! Friendly Ghost Toben!” Mongryong exclaimed. “Finally, we meet again!”

“Don’t _ever_ disappear on us like that again, Mongryong,” The new Ghost, Toben, scolded sternly, but the solace he found in their presence was palpable. Mongryong and he flew circles around each other. “What even happened to you?”

“It’s just a scratch!” Mongryong dismissed.

“You’re a Guardian,” Chanyeol mumbled, unable to take his eyes off Baekhyun. It made Baekhyun feel self-conscious, how Chanyeol seemed to be taking him in. The Hunter bit his lip and nodded shyly. “What happened?”

“Mongryong said the infection… Got to me,” Baekhyun replied, unsure on what to share with Chanyeol and what not to, because the man was starting to look heartbroken and sad. Who was he? Baekhyun was dying to know but he couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out of his mind. “That I had a plan in case we didn’t have enough time and that he had to execute it.”

“You died,” Chanyeol stated, and he was finally moving forward. Wow, he was so intense— Baekhyun felt pinned under his gaze. His mouth was suddenly dry, and he only nodded, and oh, that had to have been the wrong thing to say, because Chanyeol now _definitely_ looked heartbroken. Like it was a personal failure that Baekhyun hadn’t been able to make it. His voice was low when he spoke next.

“Do you remember me?”

Baekhyun had no words. What was a firm _yes_ but a quiet _no_ at the same time? He tried to say something, _anything_. In the end, he settled for the bare truth: “I remember that you’re Chanyeol.”

Pain flashed through Chanyeol’s eyes. Then, their little bubble was burst, as another man, just as tall but skinnier and with a cloak was coming through the melted door, and gasping out a: “Holy shit, _Baekhyun_.” And then, a somewhat anticlimactic: “Who’s that little kid behind you?”

Their fourth stop was together.

Chanyeol and Sehun. Titan and Hunter, respectively. Both of them were very tired, and a bit shell-shocked by Baekhyun, apparently. They had been looking for him ever since Baekhyun had gone into the Almighty for the first time.

“We were friends,” Sehun explained. He was a handsome man, with sharp features and black hair. His expression was always serious, always unreadable, but his eyes were stormy, and they told Baekhyun many things. “No, we _are_ friends. We just didn’t part in the best of terms.”

“Is this because of what I did?” Baekhyun had asked, and Sehun’s face fell, losing all pretence of toughness or coldness, leaving only a young man behind.

“You remember?”

Baekhyun shook his head. “And Mongryong can’t tell me— we tried hacking his security modules, but they’re air-tight. And I haven’t looked in my memories, because I don’t even know what I’m looking for. But I know… I know I did something. I can feel it.”

Chanyeol’s jaw was clenching, his fists tightening over the steering wheel of his ship. They had abandoned Baekhyun’s Thresher behind, claiming he’d be shot down the minute he tried to break Earth’s orbit. Chanyeol hadn’t taken well to Baekhyun’s revelation that Mongryong had Baekhyun’s memories stored. He had fallen silent ever since— not that he had said much at all to begin with. But Baekhyun liked his voice.

He liked everything about Chanyeol. His long blond hair, growing over his nape and forehead, unruly. His dark brown almond eyes. His pointy ears. His pursed, plump lips. His straight nose. His big hands.

But it wasn’t only physical— he liked Chanyeol’s intensity, simmering, almost burning. He liked his warmth, and the protective way he had herded Baekhyun and Hendery into his ship. He liked how transparent he was, wearing every emotion he felt on his face, to the point where Baekhyun imagined he would be able to read Chanyeol’s thoughts if he paid enough attention.

It was strange, feeling so strongly about someone he had only seen in dreams, but Baekhyun wasn’t dumb. They had been lovers— or maybe, just teetering on the edge of love. There was no other reason to explain how Baekhyun felt around the Titan— his heart racing, his stomach fluttering, his cheeks reddening, his eyes tearing up, his mind flooded with the word _Chanyeolchanyeolchanyeol_. He didn’t know Chanyeol in this life, but he was desperate to.

“You…” Sehun searched for the right words, eyes flickering to Hendery –who had been quietly sitting in a corner, as still as a statue and as blank as a canvas— with suspicion. “…We weren’t sure of your allegiances, right at the end. It threw some of us into a loop. But some of us never doubted you.”

Sehun stole a look to Chanyeol, then. Baekhyun followed his gaze, and he kept his own eyes on Chanyeol, admiring him.

“We can talk about it later,” Baekhyun proposed softly. “Are we going into the City? Because between the Almighty heading to crash over your Last City, and those Pyramids coming over to devour us all, your Vanguard needs all the help it can get.”

Sehun snorted first. “It’s your Vanguard too, now, you know? Wait— Pyramids? What Pyramids?”

“It’s the Darkness,” Baekhyun explained as simply as he could. He pointed at Hendery with his thumb. “He saw them too. What did you call them, Hendery?”

“Knives,” Hendery supplied.

“Knives,” Baekhyun echoed with effect. “There’s one in the Moon. It called to me. It showed me a vision— an army of those things, awakening, coming for the Traveller. They’re on their way right now.”

At least, Chanyeol was looking at him now, eyes wide and with a concerned frown. Baekhyun could swoon. That frown was extremely attractive.

“That… Makes so much sense, you have no idea,” Chanyeol blurted out at last, and then cleared his throat. Steeled himself. Continued with a steadier tone. “But the Almighty will take weeks to fall at the speed it’s going, and those Pyramids might take even longer, if they come from deep space. We can afford one day or two more.”

“So we’re not going into the City,” Baekhyun realised, and when neither Guardian responded, he perked up with curiosity. “Where are we going instead?”

“To your brother’s farm.”

Brother. Brother. Brother. Something warm and huge sparked within Baekhyun, taking his breath away. He scrambled to get up, and called for Mongryong, going to take a seat next to Hendery. _This_ — this, he couldn’t go to unprepared.

“Show me my brother,” Baekhyun asked his Ghost, who complied, and then, the Hunter was flooded.

A boy complying to his every baby whim, playing with him and telling him stories. A teenager barely giving him the time of the day, unless it was bedtime, scolding him for following him around. A young adult, teaching Baekhyun all sorts of things, protecting him, crying with him. A scarred man, afraid of his own shadow, with Baekhyun sticking to him like glue. A man growing into his own, falling in love. The wedding. The baby. The farm. A complicity between siblings, bonded through blood and pain and love.

This wasn’t like any time he had asked Mongryong to show him his memories. These ones struck a core, and Baekhyun couldn’t stop sniffling, heart racing but with a different emotion— a filial affection, nostalgia and melancholy. Baekbeom. Baekbeom. Baekbeom. Baekhyun repeated the name a couple of times, and he must’ve been a mess, because Hendery gingerly patted his shoulder, and Sehun joined them on his other side, ruffling Baekhyun’s hair and joking about how disgusting it felt.

Only Chanyeol was missing, even if Baekhyun felt the Titan’s eyes on him occasionally. He wished the blond would come and comfort him for everything Baekhyun had lost and —if Hendery was to be believed— willingly forgot. But somebody had to fly, he supposed.

“ _City Hawk two-seven-one,_ ” There was a voice crackling through the radio, and Baekhyun’s breath hitched as the man on the other side sighed heavily. “ _Chanyeol. I thought I made myself clear_.”

“You did,” Chanyeol immediately agreed with Baekbeom. “I wasn’t allowed to come back unless I had your brother with me. But I told you I wasn’t giving up.”

Baekbeom was silent for what seemed like ages. Baekhyun reached for Sehun’s hand out of instinct, and Sehun squeezed it comfortingly. Hendery smiled at Baekhyun, and Baekhyun smiled back, watery and excited.

Finally, Baekbeom responded with a tight: “ _Get down here, Park._ ”

If you asked Baekhyun how did Chanyeol ‘get down there’, he wouldn’t have been able to respond. Baekhyun stood up so quickly, waiting by the door of the City Hawk, vibrating, ready to bolt, like a puppy waiting to be taken out on a walk. He didn’t let go of Sehun’s hand the whole time, and Vivi –Sehun’s Ghost— cooed at them, calling them cute, but Baekhyun couldn’t speak.

Chanyeol finally, _finally_ opened the door of the City Hawk. There, on the other side, Baekbeom –Baekhyun had no doubt it had to be him— awaited, tense and relieved at the same time. Baekhyun practically jumped out of the City Hawk and embraced his brother tightly. His elder brother returned the hug, immediately beginning to sob. Baekhyun’s own eyes sprouted with tears, a whine on his lips, and he hugged harder.

“Kyoong,” Baekbeom crooned, in a voice that sounded so much like Baekhyun’s own, maybe softer, and just so familiar, triggering a new slew of warm tears of joy. “Baekhyunnie, I thought I had lost you forever. I told you to survive.”

Baekhyun laughed wetly. “I did survive! I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

I’m sorry I didn’t remember you before. I’m sorry I didn’t come here sooner. Things Baekhyun couldn’t say, because his tongue was tied, especially as Baekbeom pulled away for a moment to check Baekhyun out. Baekhyun used the minute to scan his brother’s face— one droopy eye, while the other was covered with a black eyepatch. Fading scars of claws across his face, with full cheeks, a button nose, and a small mouth. He had very faint expression marks and dark brown hair. Baekhyun wondered how alike they looked— he hadn’t even stared at his own reflection, during this whole time.

“Your hair’s a mess, Baekhyun,” Baekbeom quipped with a half-smile. “You need a shower.”

It was hours later, and Baekhyun still hadn't taken a shower. He wanted to spend time with Baekbeom, with Yeongja, with Taehyung, and that took priority over anything. Hugging them was a trip of emotions, of scents, of laughter, of tears, of love— and Baekhyun felt so comfortable with them, it was as if he had never forgotten them at all to begin with.

It had been bittersweet, that— sitting with his brother and his wife, with a hyperactive toddler on his lap and explain how he had seen them, how familiar they felt, but how he didn’t truly remember experiencing anything with them. He was already missing the moments he had once lived through but could no longer reminiscence.

But there was now time to make new memories with them. Yeongja told him so. She was so welcoming as she showed him –and Chanyeol, who trailed after them constantly after being pulled by Baekbeom, but didn’t dare to _join_ them fully— around their Farm, telling the Hunter all about how Baekhyun had found this place, how Baekbeom had proposed to her, how much the two of them had worked to fix their house up, how often Baekhyun visited and brought supplies, how he took time off just to stay with Yeongja when she was pregnant with Taehyung and couldn’t stand the sight of Baekbeom. When she mentioned she hoped he’d do the same thing for her second child and announced to him that she was pregnant –again—, the woman claimed Baekhyun’s reaction this time around was even better.

He met –again— with the people of the Farm, who were just as eccentric as the Byuns. RM was a bit of a hermit, but he had made friends with some Guardians, and even permanently welcomed one named Jimin. Taeyeon had been his girlfriend once, and he could definitely see why, but now they were only good friends and Tiffany was the love of her life. Cryptarch BoA had come with the resistance but had enjoyed the life in the countryside enough to stay forever. Nana and Sugeun were also new additions— Nana had found her way with her friend Bom, whom had been lost to the War, while Sugeun’s friends had all returned to the hustle and bustle of the Last City. Everyone was delighted to see him.

They had sat for dinner, with Taehyung falling asleep in Baekhyun’s arms. Chanyeol and Sehun looked right at home in the Byun kitchen, with the Titan helping Baekbeom cook –could this man become more attractive? Baekhyun wished he’d spare him a glance soon— and Sehun joking around with both Yeongja and Hendery. Hendery, bless his heart, did his best to make himself useful and courteous, and Baekhyun quipped he had raised him well. Baekbeom’s strange Cabal dog was a bit scary to Baekhyun, but the Queen hardly made a sound other than snoring under the kitchen table, so he supposed she was alright. The Ghosts had made themselves scarce, even dragging Hengwai with them, claiming they needed to catch up in the barn, as it was their tradition. Baekhyun couldn’t complain, even if he missed the constant companionship of Mongryong after spending so much time just with his little light.

They had talked for hours. About how the Farm had become the face of the resistance against the Red War. How in a day it had been relatively lonely, gone to being occupied at full capacity by the next morning, and then back to quietness as soon as the Last City was taken back. How Baekhyun and Sehun had run away one night and regained Sehun’s Light in the process. About how Baekhyun had a gaggle of Guardians for friends now, that they were all crashing in his apartment in the Last City with Baekbeom’s permission, and how they were getting called the Vanguard’s clan back there. About Yeongja’s pregnancy, about Taehyung’s growing vocabulary, about their grandparents, their parents, all the stories Baekhyun had missed out on.

At some point, after midnight, Yeongja had decided Taehyung would be more comfortable in his crib than over Baekhyun’s chest, even if he had been knocked out for hours. Hendery yawned, and Sehun suggested they too go to bed— since they’d be sharing a room. Chanyeol stepped out to breathe in some fresh air, and Baekhyun stared after him longingly.

“Tell me something— do you remember him?” Baekbeom asked without pretence. Baekhyun looked back at his brother with wide eyes but saw no judgement. He made a face.

“Don’t get mad at me, but the only thing I earnestly remembered without any help was his name and _sort of_ his face.” Baekhyun admitted, and Baekbeom scoffed with faux indignation.

“Unbelievable,” The elder Byun mused, clicking his tongue but with a small smile playing on his lips. “Three weeks dancing around the guy and you remember him before you remember the brother who practically raised you. I see how it is, Baekhyunnie.”

“Wait— three weeks? Really?” Baekhyun was so surprised by this piece of information, he forgot to tease Baekbeom right back. His cheeks were rapidly colouring, and it only got worse when Baekbeom nodded. “So little?”

“I mean, for two weeks you were just really painfully awkward and clearly infatuated in the other,” Baekbeom acknowledged, enjoying this way much more than he should. “But when you came back from Titan, something had clearly changed. You were much closer. Absolutely enamoured. We didn’t actually get to talk about it, though.”

“If it’s been such a short time, then why do I feel so intensely about him?” Baekhyun wondered, alarmed, and Baekbeom laughed, which only made Baekhyun upset with how obviously he wasn’t understanding this disturbed the Hunter.

“Love doesn’t have a set time,” The other man told him fondly. “You were just instantly attracted. And you know? It felt very natural to watch it happen. You complement each other very well. He’s very protective over you, worships the ground you walk on, calls you out, makes you laugh really hard, lets you flourish— honestly, I didn’t even feel the need to give him the shovel talk.”

“Oh, shut up,” Baekhyun bemoaned, but he was secretly pleased. Or not very secretly, since he couldn’t keep the smile off his face. Then, he remembered Chanyeol was very cautious around him, and sighed, long-suffering. “I don’t know if things will be the same, now.”

“I mean, amnesia aside,” Baekbeom said after a careful pause. “You’re still the same person, Kyoong. So is he. You guys just have to talk.”

Talk. Yeah. Words were important. Baekhyun could definitely see Chanyeol’s form by the fountain, sitting there with his arms crossed and looking so upset. Ugh. Baekhyun wanted to hug him so badly. No way this was normal.

“Before you go out there,” Baekbeom stopped him, and Baekhyun realised he was halfway getting up. His brother only seemed amused that he was suddenly abandoning him to talk to his crush. “Wash your face, brush your teeth. Your hair is a mess, but I think he’s into it. Try and look a _little_ bit kissable.”

“I’ll have you know I always look kissable,” Baekhyun snapped, but he had no genuine idea. “Point me to a bathroom!”

Baekhyun blindly turned on a switch as soon as Baekbeom lead him to the bathroom and was about to grab the toothbrush Baekbeom pointed him to, when his eyes caught his reflection and he fell still.

Oh. This was the first time he was seeing himself so clearly. The non-murderous water of Nessus was a bit murky, and he hadn’t encountered any mirrors. Baekbeom caught on quickly.

“When was the last time you saw yourself?” The elder asked. Baekhyun shook his head, speechless as he took himself in.

He… Looked a lot like Baekbeom actually, if Baekbeom hadn’t fought a bear. His eyes were small and droopy, with small bags under them. His button nose and mouth were also small, and his cheeks were cute. His ears were definitely bigger than Chanyeol’s. He had moles, a tiny one right over his mouth. He wanted to reacquaint himself with his face, but his attention was dragged away to his hair.

It wasn’t that tangled, maybe because it was so fine, but it was sort of long and all over the place. It looked oily, maybe because it was unwashed. However, the thing Baekhyun hated the most about it was its colour— a grey, so dull and so _unnerving_ for some reason that he had the urge to shave his head just to get rid of it.

“Why am I an old man?” He deadpanned, and Baekbeom burst into giggles.

“Honestly, I have no idea, but it suits you!” Baekhyun glared at Baekbeom, who only laughed more. “Okay! Okay! No need to look at me like that. You have shaders in your room, in your dresser. Just pick one out and dye your hair. Maybe Chanyeol can help you?”

That… Sounded like the perfect bonding idea! Baekhyun instantly lit up again, grinning at the mirror, and wow, his smile was pretty, but also boxy. Weird. It was cute.

Once his face was washed, his teeth was brushed, and his hair somewhat managed, Baekbeom pushed him out of the house towards the fountain. Chanyeol spotted him walking, and oh, he looked so tired and so soft, Baekhyun could have instantly melted. As if hypnotised, he made his way to Chanyeol, and sat by his side without a word, only sharing shy smiles.

A couple of minutes in silence had to pass, before the Hunter couldn’t take it any longer.

He bumped his shoulder with Chanyeol’s to get his attention. The Titan looked up, and fuck, he was pouting a little. It was unintentional, too, for the love of the Traveller. Had Baekbeom called him absolutely enamoured?

“You don’t have to avoid me,” Baekhyun finally spoke. “There’s no way I feel this intensely on my own.”

Chanyeol actually choked out a laugh at that.

“No, of course not,” The man admitted quietly, and he bumped his shoulder –thankfully without wearing his bulky armour— back to Baekhyun’s. Four words made Baekhyun’s heart soar, but he let Chanyeol continue. “I just… I’m scared.”

“Of what?”

“Of things finishing before they even got the chance to properly start?” Chanyeol offered, voice sad and rumbling. “Of facing the fact that you don’t remember me? Or that you went into the Almighty knowing you’d die? I can’t… I can’t even begin to explain to you how I feel.”

“You can try,” Baekhyun countered, very, very slowly leaning his head on Chanyeol’s shoulder— fearful that Chanyeol would shrug him off or push him away. Chanyeol didn’t. “I can listen.”

If Chanyeol realised he had scooted a little bit closer, he didn’t mention it. Baekhyun felt this situation was terribly familiar. He wondered how many times they had sat like this before, and his heart ached when he couldn’t give an answer.

“It’s a jumble,” Chanyeol admitted. “I’m so happy and relieved you’re alive, and that you’re a Guardian. As you should’ve always been. I’m so… Upset, though. How do I even approach you now? What is going to be okay? I’m so confused. There’s so much things about the Darkness we have to talk about, but you don’t even remember why it’s important. You’re a rollercoaster. You’ve always been.”

“That’s a good thing,” Baekhyun chirped, and when Chanyeol turned his head, they were so close Baekhyun could’ve kissed Chanyeol if he were to lean in. He wanted to. Chanyeol’s eyes darted for only a second to the grey-haired man’s lips. “It means I haven’t changed. I’m still the same Baekhyun.”

It must’ve been the right thing to say. Chanyeol’s eyes widened just a little, and then softened, as if he was realising something.

“I guess so,” Chanyeol acquiesced. They fell silent for a moment, until Baekhyun got up suddenly, and he grabbed Chanyeol’s hands and pulled. Chanyeol unconsciously squeezed, but still looked at Baekhyun like a deer caught on headlights. “What are you doing?”

“I’m proving to you I haven’t changed, and that maybe I don’t remember _everything_ ,” Baekhyun rambled, as he walked backwards, trying to find the right spot, just the right distance from the fountain. When he did, he looked up at Chanyeol with a bright smile. “But I remember the important things!”

The mere warmth of Chanyeol’s hands made him feel so at peace, and yet, so passionate. It was a dichotomy Baekhyun craved very much, even if he didn’t understand it fully. He could only hope Chanyeol felt exactly the same.

He manhandled Chanyeol, so the Titan would have a hand splayed over the small of Baekhyun’s back and the other over Baekhyun’s hair, even if it required some contortion in Chanyeol’s hold. The blond was rendered mute as Baekhyun wrapped his own arms around Chanyeol’s neck, staring down at Baekhyun as if he couldn’t believe the sight of him. Baekhyun winked, smirking slightly, and then let his head drop gently over Chanyeol’s shoulder.

“I remember _this,_ ” Baekhyun whispered sweetly. “More than a thousand years might pass, many more. I don’t know if eternity has love. But even there, just like here—”

“—In your mouth you’ll carry the taste of me.” Chanyeol concluded for him, sounding like he was about to cry. Baekhyun tried to lift his head, worried that he had actually broken Chanyeol, but Chanyeol shocked him by stopping him, and then pressing a butterfly kiss over Baekhyun’s hair— so light, Baekhyun wondered if he had dreamt it. “Fuck. You want to kill me.”

Baekhyun chuckled, playful. He played with Chanyeol’s hair, hearing him sigh. “I just want to convey how taken I am with you. And I… Think it’s very confusing, too, but I can’t, for the life of me, fight it. I don’t want to. Don’t make me.”

“We need to get to know each other,” Chanyeol warned, like it was some horrible threat. “We need to go on dates. And we can’t go super fast. My heart can’t take it again. I want you, so bad, but I want— I want to be absolutely sure. I need to be sure I can protect you.”

“Hey, not even death can get me,” Baekhyun quipped, and felt terribly tempted to press a kiss of his own on Chanyeol’s shoulder to appease him when he whined in protest at the joke. “But I get it. I do. I really want you, too. I think I—”

“—No, don’t say it,” Chanyeol interrupted him, soft and stern at the same time, but at least this time, Baekhyun could feel him smiling. “Let me win you over in this life.”

Baekhyun pretended to think about it, humming for a while. “Only if you let me win you over, too.”

“It’s a deal,” Chanyeol agreed. “We’ll do a do-over.”

“Great!”

“Awesome.”

“Yeah!”

The Titan moved his arms, in order to be able to hug Baekhyun properly, as they laughed nervously, tension leaving both of their bodies. Baekhyun’s eyes closed, satisfied, as Chanyeol nuzzled his temple. He let out a snicker and teased, “Hey, mister, that’s pretty damn tender for two guys getting to know each other.”

Chanyeol groaned. “Shut up. You started this, okay? We’ll move slow… Right after this. As soon as we go into the house.”

“I wanted to ask you to dye my hair tonight,” Baekhyun mentioned. “I hate this colour.”

“I adore it, but yeah, it brings bad memories,” Chanyeol conceded. “But it’s pretty late, Baekhyun. You sure you want to do that tonight?”

“Yeah, so you’re forced to stay in my room.”

Chanyeol pinched Baekhyun’s side kindly, but Baekhyun still yelped at the ticklish feeling. It unfortunately broke them apart, but Chanyeol was looking at him so fondly, it was worth it. He was no longer sad, which was what mattered the most.

“You’re a fiend,” Chanyeol declared. “I’ll do your hair if you do mine. I want a change, too.”

“This blond mullet is a look, though,” Baekhyun commented, wiggling his eyebrows at Chanyeol. “Like, damn, Chanyeollie. Who knew?”

Chanyeol’s cheeks turned pink, so bright even in the moonlight Baekhyun could tell. “Stop flirting with me so hard!”

Bickering and bantering and flirting, Baekhyun and Chanyeol would eventually make their way to the bedroom, and search for shaders— they settled for the very same one, which Chanyeol identified as Carminica. Their Ghosts would blessedly leave them alone, as they dyed and washed each other’s hairs and laughed late into the night, because if Baekhyun couldn’t be too coy then he could be playful. It must’ve been almost five when Baekhyun was satisfied with his hair being the darkest of blacks, as he cut strands of Chanyeol’s now dark red own head.

There would be much to be done. Chanyeol told him about the friends that waited for Baekhyun’s return to the Last City— Kyungsoo the quiet Striker, Jongdae the clever Stormcaller, Jongin the gentle Sentinel, Tao the sweet Dawnbreaker, Lay the sly Arcstrider, Kris the grumpy Gunslinger, Suho the charismatic Commander, Xiumin the moody Voidwalker, even Luhan, the infuriating Warlock whose class Chanyeol didn’t even know.

“They’re gonna help us out,” Chanyeol said as they finally laid on Baekhyun’s bed, Chanyeol facing the ceiling with his hands over his stomach while Baekhyun faced him. “All together… We’ll figure something out. The Almighty won’t get us, and neither will those Pyramids you saw. I don’t know how, but twelve heads are better than two or three.”

“Crazy how it doesn’t seem like we’re gonna catch a break anytime soon,” Baekhyun commented, making Chanyeol snort.

“I mean, we got two full years of peace between the Taken War and this one,” The Titan observed. “Do you know how much Crucible I played?”

“What was the Taken War? What’s the Crucible?” Baekhyun wondered, laughing in the darkness. “You’re gonna have to re-educate me.”

“I will,” Chanyeol promised. In an act of bravery, Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun’s hand, and intertwined their fingers. Baekhyun, who would now hold onto every second of affection Chanyeol was willing to give him, smiled secretly. “But we need to sleep now.”

It occurred to Baekhyun out of the blue that, for a hot minute, he had been afraid of falling asleep. Afraid of what waited for him in his dreams and nightmares. He didn’t completely feel comfortable in the dark room, but the Sun would come up soon. Maybe he would be able to watch Chanyeol and his not-bad new haircut nap for that little while.

 _No need for that,_ Baekhyun heard in his mind, like a whisper, crooning and lulling. _No need to fear me. I don’t bite._

 _You do._

He giggled airily at his strange thoughts, running his free hand over his face. He _was_ exhausted. He swore he could hear voices for a second or two, but he was able to hush them by simply focusing on the man besides him.

“We do,” He finally told Chanyeol, and closed his eyes, unaware of the stars that shone in them, dimmed by his own fatigue. “Thank you for staying.”

“Thank you for making me,” The Titan answered with amusement, lifting Baekhyun’s hand to kiss a mole over his thumb. Baekhyun made a content sound. “Goodnight, Baekhyun.”

Their fifth stop would be the Last City. Baekhyun kind of couldn’t wait to see what being a Guardian was truly all about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE'RE HERE!!!! Can you believe it????
> 
> So much has happened since I started this fic. I never thought it would evolve this way-- nor that I would need it to continue it so badly, haha. Destiny has done us dirty, and so has Baekhyun-- neither story is anywhere *near* their end, and if you wish to accompany me as we explore Baekhyun as a Guardian unlike any other before him, I invite you to subscribe to this series to be notified of the new story... which will be up tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. I don't promise writing less words!! As you can probably tell, I've started introducing new characters, and new arcs, and things that are constantly evolving because Destiny is constantly evolving... I hope it doesn't put you off.
> 
> But this right here? Thank you for joining me. I have enjoyed writing light-borne immensely, and I hope you have enjoyed it just as much. I hope the ending didn't disappoint you, and that you enjoyed chanyeol and baekhyun finding each other again... even if they didn't kiss. God, I wanted them to kiss so badly. But they refused to :(
> 
> stay tuned for more if you wish! And if you don't, that's okay. You can know Baekhyun with Chanyeol and lived happily ever after, for eternity, through many trials and tribulations that made him question his very existence. They kissed many times, and stopped pining for each other. They married and shot many aliens together.
> 
> from the bottom of my heart, thank you <3 see you on the other side, guardian.


	18. light-scattered

even here, the whispers persist.

faint, but present.

[light-scattered.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25145386/chapters/60927454)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sequel available!


End file.
